ellen alexandra

Chai Chocolate Buddhas!

2011-02-07T19:12:00.003-05:00

I just found out that there's a chocolate shop near my home town that sells Chai Chocolate Buddhas - how awesome is that!?!? Check out the Chocolate Gecko in Albany, NY.

Speaking of Quotes

2011-01-26T23:43:00.003-05:00

Helen: What does your therapist say about all of this?
Jessica: Oh, I could never tell my therapist.
Helen: Why not?
Jessica: Because it's private.

- from Kissing Jessica Stein

I've seen this movie many times and I am just realizing how Jessica's neuroses (and speaking-style) reminds me of Woody Allen (in any of his movies)...

Favorite Quotes 1999-2008

2011-01-26T22:31:00.003-05:00

January 9, 2008
"People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them."
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

February 18, 2007
"I'm still gonna cry though... my tears don't compromise my strength - they never have."
Kleenex Commercial

November 1, 2006
"Inspiration is unsettling to a degree. If not pinned down immediately by being worked on... it melts away like morning dew and is lost forever."
Knitter's Almanac, Elizabeth Zimmerman

August 19, 2006
"Ah, Mrs. Dalloway... always giving parties to cover the silence..."
The Hours, director Stephen Daldry

May 17, 2006
"We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep- it's as simple and ordinary as that."
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

March 2, 2005
"They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

January 5, 2005
"Oh... guys? Don't stay in here all day. I had to take the batteries out of the carbon monoxide detector; it was beeping all night."
Garden State, director Zach Braff

December 8, 2004
"And so it is just like you said it would be. Life goes easy on me most of the time."
The Blower's Daughter, Damien Rice

November 1, 2004
"I think the easiest way to lose something is to want it too badly."
J.D. on Scrubs

August 1, 2004
"let go... 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown..."
Let Go, Frou Frou

June 8, 2004
"Man is the universe becoming conscious of itself."
Footprints of God, Greg Iles

March 21, 2004
"Constant speech is not communication."
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, director Michel Gondry

February 2, 2004
"It's almost easier being down and alone than when you're up and no one's there to share the view with you."
The House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III

December 20, 2003
"Celebrate we will Because life is short but sweet for certain..."
Dave Matthews Band, Two Step

June 11, 2003
"I guess it made more sense to commit to nothing, keep my options open. And that's suicide. By tiny, tiny increments."
High Fidelity, movie based on book by Nick Hornby

January 13, 2003
"...saw this book and thought of you... saw just about everything and thought of you..."
Good Morning, Miami, NBC Television Series

September 27 , 2002
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns."
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

June 7, 2002
"Now is not the time for verbal swordplay, for unlikely flights of imagination and wildly shifting perspectives, for metaphysical conceit, for wit. And nothing would be worse than a detailed scholarly analysis. Eruditions. Interpretation. Complication. Now is a time for simplicity. Now is a time for, dare I say it, kindness."
Wit, Margaret Edson

March 23, 2002
" ...our lives can change with every breath we take..."
Where the Heart Is, Billie Letts

March 11, 2002
"Suffering and despair force you to plumb the depths of the human heart in a way normal life can't. It makes us wise beyond our years. Most people just go along."
Cherry, Mary Karr

February 14, 2002
"When two people love each other, totally, truthfully, all the way love each other, the answer to that question is simple... When do you get to that point when enough is enough? Never... Never."
The Mexican, a movie

January 16, 2002
"Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love."
She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb

December 22, 2001
"hey boy come sleep
i will turn the ocean into sky
how do you keep
when the love is making you high?"
High, Sarah Slean

November 5, 2001
"On cold days a man can see his breath, on a hot day he can't. On both occasions, the man breathes."
White Teeth, Zadie Smith

September 9, 2001
"The big show is inside my head."
Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut

August 23, 2001
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Charles Mackay

April 15, 2001
"...it did not really matter how late I was at work the next morning because when I thought about it all, I discovered that nothing really matters except not being old and being alive and having potential to dream about, and not being alone."
Gold Coast, James Alan McPherson

March 4, 2001
"'All our work undone- all our work. What are these martians?' 'What are we?' I answered, clearing my throat."
War of the Worlds, H.G Wells

September 11, 2000
"Theory without practice is empty; practice without theory is blind."
-John Dewey ---quoted in Billmeyer and Saltzman's Principles of Color Technology, Roy Berns

August 29, 2000
"...and when I've lived a life where every hour had to have a purpose, and suddenly I discover what it's like to feel things that have no purpose but myself, and I see suddenly how sacred a purpose that can be, so that I can't even argue, I can't doubt, I can't fight it, and I know, then, that a life is possible whose only justification is my own joy- then everything, everything else suddenly seems very different to me."
We the Living, Ayn Rand

June 27, 2000
"I started laughing. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

May 15, 2000
"The only sexual beauty that an ordinary human being can see today is in the woman who will kill him. Sex is death."
Welcome to the Monkee House, Kurt Vonnegut

May 5, 2000
"It was Sunday- not just a day but rather a gap between two other days."
Crazy Sunday, F. Scott Fitzgerald

March 21, 2000
"One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed...."
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery

March 1, 2000
"Do change your mind about those treatments, ma'am. I just adore your little battery charger."
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Dale Wasserman

February 15, 2000
"Misfortune is like a child in it's mother's womb: nothing can stop it being born. It grows visibly stronger and stronger; its network of veins and arteries develops. Then one day it appears, in a deluge of uncleanliness, water and blood."
Segu, Maryse Conde

January 27, 2000
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

December 20, 1999
"Sometimes only the spirit of a tradition survives; sometimes only its form."
The Dark Child, Camara Laye

November 9, 1999
"The women all had big minds because they were big animals, but they did not use them much for this reason: unusual ideas could make enemies, and the women, if they were going to achieve any sort of comfort and safety, needed all the friends they could get. So, in the interests of survival, they trained themselves to be agreeing machines instead of thinking machines. All their minds had to do was to discover what other people were thinking, and then they thought that, too."
Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut

October 25, 1999
"Death through a blunder she might be able to understand; but death as a product of cool reason, a step in logic, she could never accept. Rather than accept it, she would have had them all die."
Welcome to the Monkee House, Kurt Vonnegut

October 15, 1999
"Grownups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

September 29, 1999
"'Kitchy, kitchy, kitchy koo', John said tapping his finger on the side of an aquarium that had two piranha flesh-eating fish in it."
The Pigman, Paul Zindel

September 21, 1999
"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs.... already it was impossible to tell which was which."
Animal Farm, George Orwell

September 11, 1999
"The secrets of the earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them."
Anthem, Ayn Rand

My Web Site

2011-01-26T22:20:00.005-05:00

I have had a web site since 1996 when we were asked to hand-code a web page in my freshman year of college. I have had my own domain name for years (I can't even remember for how long - probably since some point during college). Now, I am thinking of deleting the majority of the content of my site and having the main page re-route to my blog (where I pretty much post everything anyway). In preparation for this, I am going to probably re-organize my blog, and also probably add some "pages" that blogger has added functionality for (for my resume, for example). I will also post a couple things from my current web site that don't necessarily warrant their own pages. I might even find a new place to host my pictures and move everything there (and then of course I will fix all the links). Since I lost a lot of my images from my drive a while back, this might be a tedious process. Hmmm... another idea I have is I might post a history of the design of my site. I should note this will not be a very long history given that the design on my site hasn't changed since 2004. Anyway, in my next post, I will start by posting the quotes that I have been collecting on my site for years...

Moist Cake

2011-01-13T12:31:00.002-05:00

I don't bake much but if I did, this sounds like a great way to guarantee a moist cake!

Snow Day

2011-01-10T18:12:00.003-05:00

To my friends in the north, I am sure this doesn't look like much snow, but with few plows and almost no salt, Atlanta was pretty much shut down today...

English Paper Piecing

2011-01-08T21:06:00.005-05:00

I haven't even started making any mug rugs, and I've already found something new to obsess over on flickr... hexagons!

I love this old technique of paper piecing that seems to be coming into fashion again. While looking at pictures, I came across this cute bag that uses paper pieced hexagons.

And this quilt uses this technique for a really creative design using hexagons... love it!

Also, here's a free hexagon PDF generator.

Southern Festivals

2011-01-02T16:37:00.004-05:00

I know that my friends up north will appreciate this post. Basically, I just wanted to point out how different festivals in the north and south are. Both have tons of fried foods, but in the north we are mostly restricted to fried dough, french fries, pizza, sausage & pepper sandwiches and the like... The south branches out from there a bit. I've noticed this at all the festivals I've been to down here, but these pictures happen to be from the Georgia Apple Festival in Ellijay up in the north GA mountains.

Friends on Thanksgiving

2011-01-02T16:30:00.004-05:00

I hosted Thanksgiving at my house in Atlanta this year. I usually stay near home for this holiday but the last couple years, my friend Jennifer hosted. JP stayed in town this year, and Laurie also joined us from Charleston, so we sat around knitted, played games, and ate all day... as usual...

Phoenix

2011-01-02T15:58:00.006-05:00

I took a very short trip to Phoenix a few weekends ago. I first went to the Desert Botanical Garden, which was gorgeous. I would have gone to Lumineria that night but it was sold out. Based on what I saw during the day, an evening exhibit with candles everywhere would have been beautiful.

Next I went to Tempe Yarn & Fiber. It was in the area of ASU - I actually drove by Sun Devil's Stadium to get there. This is a great little shop, filled with younger knitters (probably since the college was right there) and lots of different unique yarns and other items. This shop actually had offered a Groupon a few weeks prior to me being there, which I thought was very cool.

After that I went to Frances Vintage which I had found online and looked like a cute shop. It far exceeded my expectations. Unfortunately, I got there only about a half hour before closing and I could have spent about another hour there. They had tons of vintage ornaments (which I meant to pick up before I left and I completely forgot because I was rushing), both glass and some cool handmade ones. There was also other vintage items, but also new ones. Many of them were sort of on the crafty/indie side, so it was right up my alley. I hope to get back there some day when I have more time.

On the recommendation of the girls at Frances Vintage, I went to Chelsea's Kitchen for dinner. The food there was really good and contrary to the casual nature of the word 'kitchen', it was a pretty upscale place. The atmosphere was great, both inside and outside. It was so warm (in mid-December) that they had the back open to the patio which was filled with white lights.

Finally, since I had just a couple hours before my flight, I went over to the Civic Space Park to see the huge string artwork there.

Right before I went to the airport, I went over to the Zoo because they had a Zoo Lights thing going on there, and being right near the airport, I thought I could just go in long enough to go in the gift shop and leave. When I got there, about 45 minutes before they closed, the place was packed with people still trying to get in! There were all ages and it seemed like a pretty big deal, so I wished I had gone early enough to look at the animals (and will definitely go if I ever get to Phoenix in December again). Anyway, I did get in to the gift shop long enough to find some great Christmas gifts for some of the kids in my life.

That was about it! I had a quick 8 hours or so to myself in Phoenix and had a great time. I hope to go again some day. Winter definitely seems like a great time to be there because even at night, it was like 70 degrees or something.

Favorite 2010 Knits (plus!)

2011-01-02T15:03:00.006-05:00

I didn't knit much in the earlier part of the year because of all the things that were going on in my life, but I caught up a bit towards the end of the year and ended up knitting a few nice things. Everything in this post are things I made for Christmas gifts.

The first is the Syncopated Cap from the summer 2007 issue of Interweave. I made a couple of these hats. The first as too small for its intended recipient and went instead to his younger sister. This one was meant to be a replacement but ended up being too large, even for me. I also ran out of yarn on this one, hence the different background colors at the top of the hat, but I think it's pretty cute anyway. It's made of KnitPicks Essential (now discontinued) in the background and Shibui sock in the foreground. It's more puckered than I'd like but better than the first. I am making a third one now in Pam Allen's new yarn line Quince & Co. which will hopefully fit Anthony well. While I didn't have the best of luck with these hats, I really like the pattern (except the corrugated ribbing of course!).

I also made these Gingerbread Hats which I really like because it is a cute pattern but also because I love the yarn I used. I bought one skein of it for a completely different purpose and got these two hats out of it. It is Aslan Trends Royal Alpaca and it is really soft! These hats went to Landon and Tommy.

This hat called Paulette came out so adorable and is made out of some random alpaca yarn that I had. I really hope to get a picture of Mia wearing it. I bought the pattern on a whim because it looked cute and I can't believe how well it came out. I think it's the cutest thing I knit this year.

This cowl is pretty basic looking, especially because of the color, but you wouldn't believe how soft and squishy it is. It's one of Joelle Hoverson's Soft as a Cloud cowls made of Plymouth Earth Ecco Cashmere. I am thinking of starting one for myself out of the yarn that mom gave me a couple birthday's ago with a beret to match.

And finally, a non-knit project... I made some napkins using The Purl Bee's tutorial and their drawstring bag tutorial for my great friends, Amber and Jen.

Gocco

2011-01-02T14:55:00.002-05:00

I had every intention of posting an entire Gocco tutorial based on what I learned, but I have a feeling if I tried now, I'll find I have forgotten most things from when I actually used it back in early November (and when I had intended to write this post). However, I do have a few pictures and links to share.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Gocco, it is a discontinued screen printing machine from Japan. They are hard to get in the US unless you buy one from Ebay. The supplies for it (which aren't cheap), usually also come from Japan and can be found on Ebay or Etsy. Gocco printing can be pretty cool looking, even at its simplest but there's definitely been some true artists using Gocco too.

Here's a couple of tutorials on Gocco, which reminded me of how to use it once I got mine (I had only seen it done once before on a different Gocco model to make a friend's wedding invites):

Here's some great artwork done on Gocco printers:

And some more practical uses for Gocco:

Here's a web site dedicated to saving Gocco printers - "picks, tips, tricks and how to keep gocco around for a while":

save gocco

And here's an etsy shop that has a lot of printed items, including some Gocco ones:

Modern Printed Paper

My entire reason for wanting a Gocco was because I had been looking for some cute recipe cards to match (or at least coordinate with) my vintage recipe card holder. The problem is that 3x5 size recipe cards are harder to come by, and when I have found them, they are only one-sided. So, after a few months of looking, I decided to make my own.

Here are the basics of how I made them...

First, I put the disposable lightbulbs in the top of the printer. These are toxic bulbs and are single-use, similar to the flash bulbs that used to be in old camera flashes.

Then, I placed the top part on the printer and put the filter and blank template inside and the carbon copy (it has to be carbon) on the printer bed. I made the design in Photoshop and then printed it on a laser printer.

Pushing down on the printer top to flash the bulbs makes the template. I found that if I don't use the laser (or photo copy) print within a few days (I didn't test the exact amount of time), the quality of the template won't be as good.

I then placed ink on the template and printed my cards. I bought the blank 3x5 cards in a color that coordinated with the recipe card holder at Sam Flax, which is a high-end art store. It's a good place to get paper products for all applications, and they have a lot of wedding-type paper supplies.

I printed about 100 cards, front and back. They have all the essentials on them: name of recipe, pre-heat time, ingredients, directions, number of servings, and even a place for your calories or weight watchers points.

Here's a close-up:

And here's the final result with the matching recipe card holder. I believe this was made by Avon back in the 70's. These are the same cards as above, but the photos above were taken at night with tungsten lights on (although I had the camera try to correct for this) and the photo below was taken in daylight. Of course, the color is lighting dependent, but in my opinion, the actual color is somewhere between these two colors.

Hexagon Needle Book

2011-01-02T13:44:00.002-05:00

I love this idea!

Mug Rugs

2011-01-02T13:26:00.008-05:00

I am loving this new idea I've been seeing around the internet lately - mug rugs! The idea is that they are a coaster, not only for your mug of coffee, but also with room for a treat on the side.

Here are some of my favorites:

Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts
Sew We Quilt - love the pocket on this one!
Little Girl Quilts
another one by Little Girl Quilts
Pleasant Home - another pocket!

And there's a whole bunch of great ones here...

I have a feeling I'll be making bunches of these this year.

Charging Bull Cozy

2011-01-02T13:23:00.005-05:00

Someone crocheted the Charging Bull statue in the financial district of NYC a cozy for the holidays!

Check out the story here...

Great Books I Read in 2010

2011-01-02T13:03:00.005-05:00

The best books I read this year in approximate order starting with my favorite:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Push by Sapphire

I am almost finished reading another Kazuo Ishiguro book, When We Were Orphans. While this one is not in the league of Never Let Me Go, or even The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro is becoming on of my favorite authors. Never Let Me Go is unforgettable.

See all the books I've read, with my ratings, here.

Also, I just remembered a post from a while ago where I listed my fave books of all time - here...

2011 Resolutions

2011-01-02T12:31:00.008-05:00

2010 has been one of the most stressful, sad, and in some small ways, even happy, years of my life. I lost three really important people to me this year. All three were close family members, including my father who passed away unexpectedly. I also attended three weddings this year, traveled quite a bit, and completed none of the resolutions I made last January.

I began the year saying that my goals for 2009 had been too lofty. Well, apparently, and probably due to the amount of stress and travel this year, my 2010 goals were also a bit out of reach.

This year, I really want to continue some of the things I finished last year including:

lose weight
take yoga
sew more
cook more

A couple of specific goals I hope to achieve:

knit further on my cabled sweater
finish swatching and starting my fair isle sweater
start on my christmas quilt kit
finish at least one felt ornament kit

So, I think my resolutions are more general and mostly attainable. I am not expecting to completely finish any of the more specific goals, except I'll try my best to at least finish the ornament kit. We'll see how this year goes. Maybe next year my goals can be a bit loftier.

Meanwhile, since I haven't posted much lately, including a post that I started back in the beginning of November, I hope to post a few updates. I still have the next couple days off from work, so hopefully I can achieve at least this much.

Renee's Visit

2010-10-12T21:20:00.004-04:00

Renee finally got to visit me here in GA. She was here just for a weekend, but we tried to make the most of our time. First, we went to the botanical garden...

Then we went to the aquarium...

Then, we met Jennifer & JP at Craft for dinner...

On our last day, we all hung out in Little Five Points for a few hours before I had to take Renee to the airport (and head to Austin myself!).

Austin

2010-10-12T20:58:00.006-04:00

Recently I had to take a quick business trip to Austin where I got to catch up with some NJ friends, including one that I went to grad school with. I also had the pleasure of being shown around by Jennifer's cousins who I've hung out with before.

I'd never been to Austin before and I really liked it. It has a nice skyline, lots of antique/vintage stores, and some cool areas to hang out in.

Austin from South Congress St.

The owl building really houses a bank, I believe. When looked at from the diagonal, it really looks like an owl! This is definitely the most distinctive building in Austin.

Owl Building

One of the things that Becky taught me about Austin is that people wait for the bats to come out every night from under the Congress Street Bridge.

Mike & Becky

Stacey & Matt's Wedding

2010-10-12T20:46:00.005-04:00

Some favorite moments from Stacey & Matt's October 2nd wedding...

Alysia

Jen

bachelorette party

old friends

exchanging rings

A Michigan Wedding

2010-08-31T22:05:00.003-04:00

Congratulations Jennifer and JP!

To see more pics from the wedding, visit my facebook page...

Birthday Bag

2010-08-31T22:00:00.005-04:00

I sewed this little bag for my sister's birthday. The pattern is the Japanese Tie Bag from One Yard Wonders.

Halter Top

2010-08-22T15:14:00.005-04:00

I cut the pieces for Amy Butler's Cabo Halter a while ago - probably last summer. I finally sewed it together recently. It fits me perfectly and I love the fabric I ended up choosing (which was not what I originally bought for this pattern).

A Quilt for Honey

2010-08-22T14:58:00.005-04:00

I made a quilt for Honey a few weeks back, mainly just for practice and to give her a new toy. I made it with scraps of fabric that I had around and some binding I had in my stash. I also sewed in a couple ribbons and a toy mouse (by the tail). The quilt is layered like this: back fabric piece, light weight batting, sprinkled cat nip, a couple sheets of tissue paper, and the sewn squares. I then quilted it randomly (and not at all evenly - some parts are puckered), and then added the binding. With the tissue paper, it's a nice scrunchy toy with the added attraction of cat nip. She seems to love it and both plays with it (scrunch it up and play with the ribbons and mouse), and naps on it.

Another FO

2010-08-02T23:14:00.004-04:00

This nightie pattern is in the book Chic and Simple Sewing by Christine Haynes. It was definitely simple since it took me only a couple hours to make. The fabric is satin that I found at JoAnn's, along with the lace which seemed to coordinate perfectly. I used the large size pattern even though this should have been too small for me given that the book's size large was supposed to be at least 4" too small for me. In other words, for someone who really has that bust size, this nightie would have been huge on them.

Two Sewing FOs

2010-08-01T22:12:00.009-04:00

I finished two projects this weekend after not having sewn anything in probably six months or more. I don't have a craft room in my new place so I don't have my machine set up all the time as I used to. Anyway, I took out my tables, fabrics, machine, books, etc. and got to work this weekend.

I had a set of Hello Betty by Moda pre-cut squares and used less than half of them to put together a doll's quilt. I did this mainly because I have never made a quilt before and wanted to try something small and simple before embarking on a larger project.

I didn't really use a pattern other than referencing a few different ones just to get the basic idea. I laid out the squares in the order I wanted them, sewed them into strips, and then sewed the strips together. I sandwiched some lightweight batting with blue and white gingham that I have had in my stash forever and stitched "in the ditch". Instead of binding, I used some green piping which I've also had in my stash for a while.

I finished the quilt in just a couple hours and immediately began on a bag I've been wanting to make for a while. I loved the Very Pretty Japanese Handbag from The Purl Bee ever since it was first posted. Only about a month after I first saw it, I found the exact same handles in a craft store in Singapore.

For the outer fabric, I used the blue side of a thicker weight double-sided fabric. For the lining, I used a coordinating blue linen blend fabric. Both I found at JoAnn's Fabrics.

I didn't have the actual Japanese pattern shown in the blog post so I just created one myself by approximating the sizes based on the size of the handles. It is definitely not perfect. I would definitely make it a little smaller at the top (the scrunched part), as well as decreasing the length of the square part at the bottom (the vertical part) so that the side corner seams are not so high up on the sides (in other words, the base would be thinner from front to back). Overall, though, I really like this fabric and how well the bag came out.

Since May

2010-07-28T21:16:00.006-04:00

Since my last post, some tough things have happened in my life, but I won't go into it right now. It's just my excuse for not posting in so long. I've collected a bunch of random photos to eventually post, though, so here they are...

Buckhead at night

Mary Heather, me, and Jess at the Ravelry party

Honey in a sunny window

You know you live in the south when... (and yes, this is a real magazine)

I thought these were spiders at first... not so much...

my birthday flowers from mom

mom in a Bermuda phone booth

a chicken at Snorkel Beach, Bermuda

Driftwood at Snorkel Beach, Bermuda

big party in Enchantment of the Seas atrium

more partying

the great group of people we dined with every night on the cruise

Singapore: Flowers & Food

2010-04-10T21:50:00.019-04:00

It's been more than a month since I returned from Singapore. This is my last set of pictures that I have to show from my trip and the only reason it's taken this long is because life has been hectic both at home and at work lately. The food in Singapore is one of the most amazing parts though, so I couldn't leave it out.

I may have mentioned before that Singapore has a lot of malls. Many of them seem to be your basic mall that you can find in the US, but some at least have some interesting stores or restaurants that you would not find here. There are also some very high-end malls like the ION mall on Orchard which has LED lighting all over it on the outside and is very beautiful both inside and out. This mall is very high-tech (you should see the interactive mall directory!) and has some very high-end stores (Cartier, Dolce & Gabbana, Diane von Furstenberg). There was a small (sort of) but nice mall walking distance from my hotel called Tanglin Mall. Apparently a lot of ex-pats shop here, such as the Alabama native I met who calls Singapore her home now.

On my flight to Singapore (or right before it), I came down with a terrible cold and so didn't want to go very far when I woke up my first day there. So, I wandered over to the mall and found this adorable little restaurant called Oomphatico's to eat breakfast. I had their espresso breakfast which was basically a croissant and focaccia with juice and "espresso", which didn't seem any stronger than any of the "coffee" I had anywhere in Singapore (which reminds me of cafe con leche that you can get at any Latin or Spanish restaurant, but without the "leche").

Oomphatico's

espresso breakfast at Oomphatico's

The flowers in restaurants, hotels, and even the malls were beautiful in Singapore. This was a flower arrangement hanging off of a chandelier in Tanglin Mall.

flowers at Tanglin Mall

Later my first day I felt better and, as I mentioned in a previous post, I walked around Chinatown a bit. A co-worker had told me I must try what is simply called chicken rice which is often sold at food stalls. I found some of these stalls across from the temple I visited there, called Maxwell Food Center. I walked around the very long hallways of stalls twice before I decided what I wanted. It said in my guidebook that it was safest to eat at food stalls with an A or B rating. Almost every food stall I saw (during my entire trip) had at least a B rating, with just a few A ratings. I came across a chicken rice stall that had a very long line, which I took as a good sign. I later noticed this was the exact one also mentioned (and pictured) in my guidebook. There was a poster up of Anthony Bordain recommending it, and again here. Actually, I also found a NYT article he wrote (reposted on someone's blog) that describes quite a lot of Singapore's great food.

Maxwell's Food Center in Chinatown

Anyway, the chicken rice stall was worth it, even with the bald chickens with their heads still on hanging upside down.

Hiananese Chicken Rice stall

A plate of this very bland-looking (but not bland-tasting) dish with a side of hot sauce, cucumbers, and broth is only about US $2.25. It tastes amazing. Here in Atlanta, you can find it at Penang, a Malaysian restaurant that I love, but I haven't tried this particular dish there yet.

Hiananese Chicken Rice

Another thing I tried at the food stalls was a couple of fritters. I tried both a peanut and a sweet potato fritter. These were about the size of a golf ball and fried in a vat of oil (hence the reason I only had two of them). Expecting to like the peanut one better, I was surprised to find that the sweet potato fritter was amazing.

I also found a great little bakery in Chinatown that had some of the most beautiful pastries I've even seen. I tried the lotus pastry. It had an interesting taste and was not too bad but I could not eat it all - it was much more beautiful than it tasted.

lotus wedding pastries in Chinatown

vegetarian cookie pastries in Chinatown

The first evening I was in Singapore I went back to Tanglin Mall where I ate at Patara Thai restaurant which I had seen there earlier in the day. I ordered some basic thai dish like red curry or something but for an appetizer, I had an assortment of dumplings. They tasted great and looked even better.

flowers at Patara Thai restaurant

dumplings at Patara Thai restaurant

During my first day of meetings we had lunch at the hotel buffet which was full of extremely fresh seafood. They had about five different kinds of lobster. The only two types I had heard of were the Maine (!) and spiny lobsters.

seafood buffet at Royal Plaza

seafood at Royal Plaza

That evening after our meeting, everyone went together to the Palm Beach Restaurant at One Fullerton. One person ordered a huge meal for all of us (served family-style on a huge lazy susan). We had many different dishes including fried rice, fried squid and various noodle and fish dishes. We also had a couple of traditional Singaporean foods including drunken prawns, which are cooked in cognac, as well as Chili Crab, which was a huge plate of about 15 crabs (with at least 6-8" bodies) covered in a chili sauce.

Palm Beach Singaporean seafood restaurant

For dessert, a large bowl filled with fruit sitting in ice was served. I completely forgot to take a picture until we were half done with the bowl. I had never tasted any of these fruits, other than the mango (standing up in the center), but now I've tasted them all - not that I know what they are called. The one thing that I do know the name of is the fruit with the brown skin, red edges, and the white part in the center (which is the edible part). These are called mangosteens. They taste like a cross between maybe a grape and a melon. I typically say that I don't like tropical fruits very much (I don't hate things like pineapple and bananas but I don't prefer them). Mango grew on me over the years, as well as a few other tropical fruits, but I loved all of these new ones that I tried on this trip.

fruit dessert at Palm Beach

I thought this outdoor McDonald's on the street was so cute. I didn't eat there but I had to take a picture. I especially feel like the Cereal McFlurry ad was interesting.

outdoor McDonald's

Cereal McFlurry ad on street

A couple more random pictures of some interesting wedding cakes and a colorful pastry shop.

wedding cakes in window

pastry shop at People's Park mall

A friend of mine who is originally from Hong Kong asked me to see if I could find Hong Kong french toast while I was there and try to figure out what was in it. It turns out that there are several places in Singapore that have this type of french toast, but I didn't end up getting to any of them. Toast in general did seem to be popular however. I saw toast places of various types all over the place. Ya Kun Kaya Toast was actually recommended to me by one of my colleagues. Kaya toast is basically toast, with a green colored cream on it made of coconut milk and pandan (a tropical plant). It is popular in both Singapore and Malaysia, according to Wikipedia.

Ya Kun Kaya Toast shop

kaya toast, chrysanthemum tea, coffee

At Boat Quay, I ate thai food at a great restaurant on the river, where I had red curry with prawns, lime soda, thai iced team, and veggie chips.

thai food at Boat Quay

lime soda at Boat Quay

Later that same night, I went over the the famed Raffles Hotel, where the Singapore Sling was invented at the Long Bar. As one of my colleagues warned me, it tastes like cough syrup. It also cost about $18 USD!

Long Bar at Raffles Hotel

Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel

waving fans in Long Bar

One morning I was running a bit late for my meeting and I had a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Basilico. I had this great toast with a very light and crumbly, subtle-tasting cheese on the side.

bread with cheese for breakfast at Basilico

One of my favorite dishes in Singapore was often served at buffets as a breakfast or lunch food. I had it several times there and believe it or not, it's called "carrot cake" (or "fried carrot cake"). The "carrots" are actually white radishes. It also has egg, scallions, etc. It is definitely not a sweet dish like what we think of carrot cake as. Wikipedia describes it under it's chinese name, chai tow kway.

carrot cake at work buffet

Another night when I spent a more relaxed evening doing some shopping, I ate some Asian food at the mall. They had a dessert that I kept seeing variations of at a bunch of different places called Ruby Red. It is basically ice with sweet coconut milk over it and mixed in a these little, firm, gelatinous pieces. It was definitely a nice change of pace from our very sweet, rich desserts often served in the US.

Ruby Red dessert at Coca

Ruby Red dessert at Coca

I had lunch at the Tea Room, another restaurant in my hotel, one day. I loved all the little sandwiches and cakes. I ate them while relaxing and reading my book, and drinking my very strong coffee.

tea and cakes at Tea Room, Regent Hotel

cakes at Tea Room, Regent Hotel

desserts at Tea Room, Regent Hotel

jam, lemon curd, & clotted cream at Tea Room

cream & sugar at Tea Room

flowers at Tea Room

All in all, the food in Singapore was diverse and amazing. Finally, I wanted to show a couple of pictures of the city itself. I went up to the New Asia Bar on about the 80th floor of the Swissotel, where I heard there are the best views of Singapore. I'll leave you with a couple of the most beautiful views in Singapore...

New Asia Bar at Swissotel

Singapore from 80 stories above

Singapore: Kampong Glam & Little India

2010-04-08T19:51:00.007-04:00

On my fifth night in Singapore, I didn't do much after work other than go to the shopping mall by my hotel. I am not into basic shopping malls at all at home, much less other places where I can see new and interesting things. But since I had a long day of touring both our Singapore and Malaysian manufacturing plants for work, I decided to take it a little easy. I specifically went to the mall to go to Kinokuniya but I didn't end up getting there in time before it closed. I'll have to go next time I am back in NYC.

I did end up going to Takashimaya which I loved and also recognized from NYC (I just found out by googling that the NYC store is sadly closing). Anyway, I mainly explored to basement level where they have tons of food from Singapore and other countries (both to eat there and as gifts). I picked up some middle eastern sweets, Kaya jam and Laksa for a friend, Chinese tea, also for a friend, and a few other random things. This was one of my favorite shops in Singapore. The store in NYC I remember being much different - a 7-floor super-fancy department store on the upper east side that most can't afford. Nice, but more to look than to buy. The one in Singapore is much more accessible.

My last day in Singapore I am happy to say I didn't have to work. I was able to explore as much as possible before my very early morning flight the next day. I spent it in Kampong Glam and Little India. These areas were pretty close to each other (a long walking distance) and very different. Kampong Glam is the Arab part of town with Arab Street being where all the locals go to get their fabrics and textiles. This area is very clean much like most of Singapore is and is beautiful. There are palm tree-lined streets, beautiful music and chanting, and great food. Also, the shops in this area are amazing. Masjid Sultan Mosque towers over everything.

Masjid Sultan Mosque at Arab Street

a close-up

tons of motorcycles outside mosque while ceremony goes on

The most beautiful part of Kampong Glam ended up also being my favorite part of all of Singapore: Bussorah Street. This little street is parallel to Arab Street (and Haji Street which I somehow never got to) and is for pedestrians only. There are tons of little shops, vendors, and restaurants. I had an amazing samosa on this street. The shops ranged from very high end to very cheap and everything in between. I never knew what I was going to find walking into each shop. One of my favorite shops was Khim's Collections. I not only got lots of gifts for family and friends here, I also found my one "big" souvenir: a gorgeous and intricate hand carved box made of travertine stone.

Bussorah Street

When I left Kampong Glam and began walking over to Little India, it started pouring rain (I ended up taking a cab the rest of the way). You can see the dark skies in some of the pictures below.

buildings near Kampong Glam

another building near Kampong Glam

Little India is very different from Kampong Glam in many ways. Instead of the very mixed race area, I found that Little India was mainly Indian people, which tells me it is probably less touristy. This makes sense since I also found the streets and general look of the area to be more dirty and run down. That didn't make it any less interesting to me, of course. Celebration of Arts was just one shop that I found that I really liked. I don't even think I bought anything, but it was big with lots of different types of wares, like textiles, wood carved furniture, chess sets and figurines, etc.

Celebration of Arts, Little India

unloading a truck

buildings in Little India

more buildings

a very interesting temple in Little India - those are statues all over it

All in all, this was a great place to spent my last day in Singapore. I saw some really interesting things, enjoyed good food, bought some great souvenirs, and loved the atmosphere.

Singapore: Boat Quay and Clarke Quay

2010-04-06T22:42:00.006-04:00

My fourth evening in Singapore was spent in Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. I was told that the food was better in the first and the second was better for drinking. Boat Quay is definitely far more run down than Clarke Quay and is basically a strip of restaurants and bars with people every where and huge crabs in coolers on the sidewalks. It also happened to be St. Patrick's Day, so at one end of the street, there were bartenders, waitresses, and even many customers dressed up in green, shamrocks, and big hats. Until I saw how diverse Singapore is, I never would have guessed they would celebrate such a holiday. I had some wonderful Thai food right on the river here with amazing lime soda.

Boat Quay -the river is just on the other side of the tents on the left

the more Irish end of the street

I also walked past the hoopla and over by the water to see some more of the sites.

river boats at Raffles landing site

river boat in front of Fullerton (with hotel construction behind it)

a group of people exercising on the steps after work

cool bird statue

Raffles statue from afar

riverboat under bridge

Clarke Quay is very modern and brightly colored. It also has tons of restaurants, cafes, bar, a few shops, and a very modern mall across the way. I mainly walked around, looked at the few shops they had, and watched drunk people. I also took a cruise down the river once it got dark over to the MerLion I've mentioned before.

Clarke Quay

Hippo boat tour in front of Clarke Quay

Clarke Quay at dusk

bridge on river at night

Singapore: Night Safari

2010-04-01T21:31:00.006-04:00

My third day in Singapore was again spent in meetings much of the day. In the evening, I traveled up to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo (check out the web sites - they are pretty cool). I had heard from multiple people who have been there that this was a must-see. Obviously, flash wasn't allowed since all the animals are nocturnal, so you'll have to see if you can spot the animals below. I stayed on the tram the majority of the time because there was literally almost no lighting the whole way.

little hut near safari entrance

some beautiful landscaping inside

men twirling fire

audience member on stage (in jeans)

pretty cool show

porcupine

zebras in front (not sure what's in back)

water buffalo (?)

elephants

tiger

leopard

leopard closer up

lion

Singapore: One Fullerton

2010-03-28T20:34:00.006-04:00

My second day in Singapore was a very long day, but while I was with my colleagues the entire day, we had a fun evening after our day time meeting. We went over to One Fullerton which is an area by the water with many restaurants. Across the water, there was a new hotel being built that is composed of three towers connected at the top by something which to me (and it seems it's only me) looks like a boat.

This was also the area where the Singapore Flyer could be seen. This is basically a huge ferris wheel (I believe the largest in the world), which is beautifully lit at night. There is also some sort of sphere being built - I am not sure what this will be when complete.

Singapore is a large city with many different areas, but I would equate the One Fullerton area as being part of "downtown". I believe downtown is actually considered a much larger area, but this is the area with all the large skyscrapers.

Singapore's most famous symbol seems to be the Merlion. My understanding is that there are 5 of them in Singapore, this one being the original and the second largest. Apparently it is meant to represent the fishing industry that no longer exists in Singapore and the lion that Raffles saw when he first founded Singapore (which means Lion City). The Merlion is shown on most souvenirs as a symbol of Singapore, including cookies, chocolates, etc., shaped like the statue.

Merlion

The Fullerton Hotel

Singapore: Chinatown

2010-03-28T19:18:00.005-04:00

I was recently asked to attend a meeting in Singapore for work. I'd never been overseas to either Europe or Asia, so I jumped at the chance to go and see a different part of the world. I was there for about 6 full days (with a very brief detour to Malaysia). While I had a good bit of business to attend to, I was also glad to have some free time to explore. For the next few days I will be posting pictures from different aspects of this trip.

The very first day I got there, I ended up getting a pretty bad cold, but I didn't want to stay in the hotel the whole day so I decided to go over to Chinatown and walk around. One of the main things that brought me there was the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. I had seen it in my guidebook and it sounded like a really interesting place.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

entrance

incense

As I was arriving at the temple, there was a ceremony going on. The main room was filled with people, both praying and observing. The room was very large and two stories high (with a mezzanine level above). There were flowers everywhere, decorations hanging from the ceiling, large statues of Buddha at the front, and as you can see from the pictures, it was extremely colorful. There was also a lot of food to buy as offerings, as well as candles and incense.

ceremony

praying

alter

There were several more floors above this main room that included various more ceremony rooms, a Buddhism library, a museum about the life of Buddha, a tea room and shop, and apparently a garden on the roof, but since it was pouring rain, I didn't get to see that.

dragon drawing

guardian lions

In the Buddha museum, there were obviously many different depictions of Buddha. Here's some of the more interesting ones...

my favorite Buddha statue

After leaving the temple, I explored the rest of Chinatown and found an area with many different shops selling mostly tourist souvenirs. It was an interesting area but not too much different than the various Chinatown areas in US cities.

I also went to another area of Chinatown on another day when I was looking for a yarn shop (of which I found only one the entire trip). I loved how pretty this street was with its amazing flowers and trees (some of which were silk on closer inspection!) and pretty bridge.

Zebra on a Highway

2010-02-18T21:01:00.007-05:00

I came home from work the other day, turned on the television, and was shocked at what I saw. I was on the phone hysterically laughing with my friend over the live news shot of a zebra on the highway in downtown Atlanta. It had escaped from the circus near Philips Arena. Apparently, this is also the second time in less than 2 years that a zebra has been found on a Georgia highway!

I was so excited I actually took a picture of my tv!

Lima is caught

Also, about a week and a half ago, we got the first snow that stuck here in Atlanta for more than a few hours since I've lived here. The snow fell for only a few hours, but instead of melting right away, it stuck around for about a day and a half - long enough for kids to make snowmen out of the inch and a half of snow that was on the ground.

front yard

side yard

Much of the time, I don't think my knitting is blog-worthy. I don't bother posting about quick or easy projects, unless they came out really good or interesting or maybe if it's something I haven't done before. But on a rare occasion, I start a project that I recognize will be on the needles for quite a long time due to its complexity.

I started the Halcyon sweater from A Fine Fleece. I am really excited about this sweater and the yarn I chose. Originally, I had planned on knitting it in cream for a very traditional cable knit sweater. I changed my mind after looking at all the colors that were available in Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool. I chose this light turquoise color and so far I really like how it's knitting up. Those of you reading who knit (and maybe even those who don't) will notice this isn't on the needles. That is because I frogged this because of a mistake I was consistently making in one of the cables. It turned out that after I reknit it (up to about the same spot) that the mistake didn't really affect the look of the cables after all.

I know this project will be on the needles for quite a while. I often get side tracked with projects that need to be done for gifts or to knit something more appropriate for the time of year, etc. I just hope I don't get bored with it over time. I am also knitting this in a smaller bust size than I am because the plan is to fit into it by the time (or long before) it is completed.

a closer look

Anyone who remembers my resolutions (although why would you) would notice that this long, more complex project is not even on the list. I haven't mentioned a cable knit sweater before. I am not normally a cable person. I wear them, and I occasionally knit more simple and/or modern cables (like the 8 Koolhaas hats I've made), but I rarely have the urge to knit a traditional-looking cable knit sweater so old-school that one might call it a "gansey". I don't know why I was in the mood for this - probably because it looks great on the model in this beautiful book which is filled with cable knit items and I haven't knit from it even once before now. The fair isle sweater that I did mention in my resolutions is definitely not out the window. I have the yarn for it. I even started swatching it before things got a bit hectic. Once things settle down for me, probably in April (or as late as May), I will finish up the swatching of that sweater and actually begin.

Hot Chocolate Festival

2010-01-29T22:42:00.004-05:00

City Bakery in NYC is having a Hot Chocolate Festival & Night of Knitting. Apparently it's the 18th annual! How did I ever miss this when I lived up there? I so wish I could go. City Bakery has the best hot chocolate ever with homemade marshmallows!!!

Button Inheritance

2010-01-19T20:47:00.004-05:00

A neighbor of a friend of my family recently passed away. Somehow from this, I inherited a bunch of crafty things, which I was really happy to receive. The stash of stuff included yarns: mostly acrylic but old school, nice, and in really good condition, as well as some great 100% virgin wool which I promptly washed and reskeined to get the musty smell out.

There was also a lot of sewing supplies with tons of elastic, ribbon, and thread... and buttons! So, in the process of sorting through the new buttons I got a chance to sort through and organize my own (which previously amounted to two large mason-size jars and is now an unknown amount... probably a whole third jar, but I can't tell because they are now in all different containers). Here are some of my favorites from my new collection as a whole:

some of my faves - see the bulldog one on the bottom?

some of the metal ones

awesome iridescent leaf buttons

cute little black braided ones

iridescent green buttons

antique pearl buttons

pink clear buttons

large shell-like bead

my very favorites - an alpaca (llama?), a bulldog, and a leaf

a close-up of the alpaca/llama button

New Handspun

2010-01-19T20:28:00.007-05:00

I've been spinning a bit more since I got home from Albany after Christmas. First, I finished spinning my Cloverleaf Farms 100% silk that I bought at SAFF in 2008. I had been spinning this basically since sometime last summer or early fall.

I also spun up some Frabjous Fibers Merino Tencel, which is superwash yarn. I also got this at SAFF '08.

And here's a close-up:

I also started weaving with my little Weavette loom lately. I bought this years ago at the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival. I don't know how this is possible, but it seems I may have never posted about this festival on my blog, even though I attended it several years in a row in central NJ. I only figured out how to use this loom a few weeks ago. I started out by just following the basic instructions, and ended up with two "bookmarks", about 2" x 6" in size. The top one is my second try (where I learned to even out the rows and columns a bit) and the bottom is my first (a little more wonky) try. I have already started a new project, but I am not ready to post it yet. One thing about weaving: it takes way less time than knitting.

Miami

2010-01-19T19:49:00.005-05:00

This weekend I went to Miami for no other reason than it was going to be warmer, sunnier, and less depressing than another cold, rainy, winter weekend in Atlanta. I love Atlanta, but the winters here are very rainy and this one has been especially cold (often just as cold as upstate NY). Anyway, I stayed in Miami only for about 32 hours, but it was a nice little getaway. When I first got there, I had to stop at a yarn shop, of course. The Knitting Garden in Coral Gables was a cute little shop which was packed when I got there on Saturday afternoon. They have a great selection of yarns, even some yarns I hadn't heard of (I knew the manufacturer's but not those specific yarns). I ended up getting just a couple skeins of one such yarn: Malabrigo hand-dyed and handspun yarn. I don't even see this yarn in the Ravelry database yet.

Next, I went to South Beach where they were holding the Art Deco Festival. There were so many art deco buildings and hotels, including the Park Central Hotel where I ate dinner that night. The Casablanca Restaurant had pretty good (but not great) service but also amazing crab legs and herbed veggies.

flamingo and lights in front of a south beach club

the park central hotel and casablanca restaurant

The next day, I went to Bayside Marketplace, where I took a little boatride to see Millionaire's Row (and basically so I could see Miami from the water). Some of the highlights of the ride were seeing the very exclusive Fisher's Island where many famous people have condos including Tom Cruise, Oprah, Janet Jackson, Shakira, and Jennifer Lopez. We also saw various mansions/summer homes including those owned by Rosie O'Donnell, Will Smith, Gloria Estefan, and Julio Iglesias.

Bayside itself was basically a cross between an outdoor mall (with stores like the Gap) and a souvenir marketplace (similar but far less busy than one I had been to in Cancun several years ago). I ate at a restaurant called Mambo Cafe which had great mahi mahi and boiled yuca.

the scarface mansion

cruise ship alley

house in usher and shakira's videos

fisher island

Later that day, I went over to Coconut Grove, FL which I found completely by accident. It was a cute little area with shops and restaurants.

cocowalk in coconut grove

That was about it. It was a short trip, but very nice to get out of town if even for a weekend...

Resolutions

2010-01-03T23:13:00.003-05:00

I did not actually complete any of my resolutions for 2009. So this year, I am going to make my goals a bit less lofty and see how it works out.

2009 goals:

to finally design a sweater - I have also written down some ideas for a new sweater design but have gone no further with them, so hopefully I'll be able to do that.
to knit a fair isle sweater with steeking - I did actually buy the yarn for this a few months ago and started swatching, so I think that goal will be a bit more attainable now.
to lose at least 20 pounds - I have definitely not done this but I did recently buy a couple new games for the Wii which may help with this, as well as I want to cook at home more often.
to be further along financially than I currently am - I am getting a smaller apartment at the end of my lease in May (for various reasons) which should help out with this.

So, my new 2010 goals are:

knit a fair isle sweater with steeking
start swatching for a design idea
cook at home at least once a week with enough for leftovers
do something highly active at least 5 hours per week
spin and/or sew at least once a week

November & December

2010-01-02T17:08:00.006-05:00

As usual, it's been a while since I've posted. I guess this is becoming a habit, even though I don't mean it to be. So, this is going to be another extended picture-heavy post because if my [very few] readers are anything like me, they skip most of the text when they read blogs anyway.

Early in November, I got a chance to take a trip up to Helen, GA, which I had heard a few things about. I pictured it to be similar to Leavenworth, WA, where I visited during my trip across the country in summer 2001. I was mostly right, except for the sort of Lake George feel to it. Sort of a mixture of Bavarian and tacky.

Helen shops

restaurant on the Chattahoochee River

butterfly

The next night, I went with my friends to a Thrashers game, where we had box seats. They won!

Thrashers

Jennifer & Jim

In mid-November I ventured up to Tallulah Gorge for a hike.

Tallulah Falls

canoeing

suspension bridge

I spent Thanksgiving with my friends Laurie and Jennifer. We spent the day eating, watching movies, and knitting... pretty much the same thing I did last year, which I was ecstatic about.

brunch

brunch with the girls

For Christmas, I made it home to NY where I got together with my family and friends. I saw MaryEllen (a fellow knitter) and her husband, Mike, for breakfast one morning to catch up. She gave me some Fleece Artist fiber, which reminded me that I've been wanting to start spinning again (which I did when I got home - more on that in another post). I also saw Renee and her family. We got to catch up for a few hours which was awesome. She and her son made me homemade soap(!) which I love. I completely neglected to take any pictures of these visits - even of the kids!

I went to Stacey's house for a little get-together with Stacey and her fiance, Matt, Alysia, Jen and her girlfriend, Amber, and a couple of new people. Of course, Stacey's new baby, Landon was there also and was so good considering the amount of noise in the house at all hours.

Matt, Stacey, baby Landon

Jen & Alysia dancing

Jen & Alysia

Jen & Stacey

Can you tell Jen loves to hug???

Jen & Amber

Happy Holidays!

End of October

2009-10-26T21:08:00.005-04:00

Obviously I don't know how to post regularly, but I spontaneously took another picture of my Hemlock Ring blanket:

honey cuddling with the hemlock

Synopsis of the last 2 months:

**, *work, knit, sleep, repeat 5 times from *
clean house, hang out with friends
watch tv, knit
repeat from **

... hence the lack of posting...

Random Stuff

2009-09-08T20:42:00.004-04:00

Hemlock Ring

Detail

Georgia Aquarium

Jellyfish

Shark

Carrots grown in a pot on my porch (who knew?)

Rat Eating Plant!

2009-08-15T00:01:00.004-04:00

Samurai Knitter posted about carnivorous plants, which have always freaked me out. Her post was brought on by this news story about a new carnivorous plants that eats rodents as large as rats!

The Last Few Weeks

2009-07-20T18:02:00.004-04:00

I had a great birthday surprise from my mom this year. She sent me a big LL Bean bag filled with goodies... six (!) skeins of Fibre Company yarn, a big bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and some Persian Lime lotion from Williams Sonoma. My friend Becky gave me a knitting needle roll.

olive oil, lotion, and bag

needle roll & fibre company road to china & road to china light

I've also been meaning to post about the Talia Vest I finished a while back. My friend Jennifer helped me pick buttons out of my big button jar. I haven't been posting much about knitting since it seems so redundant with Ravelry around, but I know that my non-knitting friends never get to see those projects (at least until Ravelry is opened to the public).

talia vest

After a great Saturday of dining with various friends, I decided on a whim to hike up Stone Mountain yesterday. The last 1/4 mile or so was really steep, but the rest wasn't too bad.

the steepest part

At the top, I had a treat of Mango and Cherry italian ice and watched the sky ride come to the top.

sky ride (which I did not ride to the top)

It was a bit hazy and cloudy, but I was still able to see Atlanta.

a hazy view of ATL

Spring Ruffle Dress

2009-07-07T00:40:00.005-04:00

Remember my spring ruffle top shown at the bottom of this post? Well, someone made one as a cute dress! I might have to try this sometime...

Dixie Highway

2009-06-18T01:11:00.006-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, Becky and I went to the Dixie Highway Yard sale in North Georgia. We probably only traveled about 30 of the 90 miles and neither of us found anything spectacular, but it was a nice ride away from the city. We saw a few "oddities" along the way. First, here's Becky standing next to a very large cactus (which are not indigenous to the area, but they seem to thrive when people plant them, even with the humidity).

Becky with cactus

Next, we saw a mama and baby camel... in Georgia??? Well, I guess it's no stranger than the kangaroo farm in Dawsonville. I am pretty sure we were in Cartersville when we came across these.

camels in Cartersville

Then, in Cassville, I just thought it was funny that this tiny little place is their museum. Someone was selling a real iron pipe stove right across the street from the museum. We also had some pretty good Mexican food in this tiny town.

Cassville Museum

The last time you saw my garden wasn't too long after I planted my pots for the season. As you can tell, it's grown up a lot in the last 6 weeks...

The carrot pot, which looked empty last time, has made vast improvements...

I had a couple strawberries, but I think all the rain last month made them rot. So, they're gone, but I do have a pretty strawberry flower...

And nine (9!) green tomatoes...

A snail is also living in my microgreens...

I remember living in Rochester, after the rains, there were always slugs (yuk!) outside my house. In Jersey, it was earthworms... and in Georgia, I get snails (like this one last summer)! There was also one outside my front door this morning.

Remember Jennifer's kitty Zooey? Well, she's decided to go into business...

Zooey

And here's my kitty sitting around reflecting...

Honey

Good Reads

2009-06-14T22:30:00.004-04:00

I often use Goodreads as a place to keep track of the books I've read, want to read, and currently am reading. I decided to post a list of the books that I've rated with 5 stars. I've listed them by my rating, so it currently shows some of my 5 star books, but since it doesn't show them all, I decided to still post a list. They are in order by author's last name because it is too hard to pick a true favorite. Also, most of these I have read multiple times in my life. Even re-reading this list, I have my favorites, but since my favorite would probably be different depending on the day you ask me, I won't tell you what it is. It also turns out that there's a widget for blogs and I've added it in my side bar.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Hour I First Believed: A Novel by Wally Lamb
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Animal Farm by George Orwell
1984 by George Orwell
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Anthem by Ayn Rand
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Blindness by José Saramago
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Chattanooga

2009-05-23T22:50:00.014-04:00

Since I haven't explored a whole lot since I moved to the south, I took the 3 day weekend as an opportunity for a little trip. Chattanooga's only a little over 2 hours from here, so I thought it would be a great place for a day trip. I started at Ruby Falls, a touristy but beautiful spot about 1100 feet underground. Unfortunately, it's a guided tour that takes over an hour all together, having to stay with your group and all. Also, you only have about 5-10 minutes to enjoy the falls themselves, but all the rock formations on the walk there are interesting.

Ruby Falls

Some interesting lighting on the rocks underground

After I left Ruby Falls, I went over to Genuine Purl on the North Shore. At the yarn shop, I picked up some Koigu in a colorway I hadn't seen before. The shop itself was kind of boring, style-wise, but it's the only yarn shop in town. The staff was friendly and the selection was pretty good though.

The North Shore is a cute little area I'd like to explore more the next time I venture up there. There's a long pedestrian bridge that goes over the river that looks pretty cool and a park below it. On the North Shore are a bunch of cute little shops and restaurants close to the bridges. I ate at MudPie, a casual place with great food. On the other side of the river is the Tennessee Aquarium, which I'd like to visit even though Georgia now has a larger and better one here in Atlanta. The building looked super-modern from the outside so it's probably not too many years older than ours. Other than that, it didn't look like there was a whole lot to do on that side of the river (within walking distance). About a mile and a half down the street, though, is the Chattanooga Choo Choo. It's a Holiday Inn property that's a little more than just a hotel. You can sleep and/or eat in a train car, browse the various shops (which is what I did), take a train or horse ride, or walk through the beautiful gardens.

A statue at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Garden

The garden

One of the many types of roses in the garden

The night before I went to Chattanooga, I decided to work on a new top. I was originally going to use this fabric for Amy Butler's Cabo Halter. I started it last week and cut my fabric wrong, leaving too little for that particular top. So, I found a free tutorial for the Spring Ruffle Top online and used the fabric for that instead.

My finished Spring Ruffle Top

I liked this tutorial. It was pretty easy to follow and would have probably taken far less time if it hadn't been my first sewn garment. I think it took me about 4-5 hours all together. I made lots of mistakes, but I think it was good for a first effort. I even wore it to Chattanooga without it falling apart.

Modifications: I opted out of the ruffle, or even the trim as mentioned in a variation towards the end. So, for the straps, I just sewed the edges together and pressed them, turned them inside-out, and sewed them on so that the seam was in the back (instead of on the side how they would have been with the ruffle or trim). I also opted out of the pockets... cause who needs extra bulk at their hips anyway?

I did opt for the arm divots, as well as the waist shaping (1.5" on each side instead of 1"), both of which could be done earlier in the process instead of as an afterthought next time I make this. Also, the actual size of the front and back ended up far too big for me and I ended up taking it in a lot.

The pattern suggested for larger busts that the pleats not be sewn down, but instead sewn across the top. I took this advice (also because I think it looks better) and I think that worked out well.

The back ended up larger than the front after the pleats were made, so I ended up with some inadvertent gathering in back, which I would likely do deliberately next time (similar to front, but maybe only with 2-3 pleats instead of 6), or just cut the back smaller than the front. In addition, I'd likely make the back slightly shorter, as well as take up the center top a bit further. I am not sure how I would do this, or if the slight pleating on the back itself would help with the puckering. I knew something like this would be needed, similar to short-row shaping on the back of knit sweaters, but I didn't realize it until I saw how much it puckered. So, I ended up taking it up in the center-back in a somewhat wonky way (which is why I am not showing a picture of the back).

Close up of pleats

My favorite modification isn't really one. The tutorial doesn't specify any special way to hem the bottom, so I took advantage of a cute stitch on my sewing machine about an inch from the bottom.

Hem detail

Not too long ago I came home to a gecko at my door - at least I think it's a gecko - that's what a friend told me it was - I just thought it was a regular lizard if such a thing exists. He was crawling down one of the poles right outside my front door. I ran inside to get my camera and luckily, he was still there when I returned.

Doesn't he sort of look like the Geico gecko?

Out with Friends

2009-05-06T23:01:00.004-04:00

Last week I spent a night out with some friends. Jennifer's cousin was in town with her boyfriend, so we went out on the town. This was the scene while we were getting ready to go out at Jennifer's house:

Franny & Zooey

I love this picture. There's the lazy one... and the one giving me a dirty look.

After various spots, we eventually ended up at a bar near Jennifer's house.

J.P. & Jennifer

Becky & Mike

Me, J.P., Jennifer, & Becky

Spring in Georgia

2009-04-28T21:07:00.004-04:00

I've spent the last few weeks getting my deck in order and cleaned up a bit from the winter. Winter's here are relatively mild, but even with very little snow or anything, my deck needed an overhaul, including some deep-cleaning of the railings.

I also potted a bunch of plants - mostly herbs and a few vegetables (although I don't know how well the veggies will work in pots other than the tomatoes). I have a money tree, desert rose, lavender, basil, cilantro, sage, rosemary, oregano, strawberries, micro greens, carrots, tomatoes, and a few other tropical plants and flowers. Isn't my little wire plant stand cart cute? I got that at our great flea market last year.

There was a little surprise when I went to get my mail today. The mail boxes in my neighborhood are in the pool house area and when I looked through the gate I saw a woman looking at what I thought was a goose in the pool. We have lots of geese in the pond that is just down a little hill from the pool area (beyond the fence), but I was surprised to see one in the pool. As I got closer, I realized it was ducks! A mama and a bunch of babies. They were really cute, but I am wondering how they got in there, because the mother couldn't seem to get the babies out of there.

Stitches South Highlights

2009-04-28T20:52:00.006-04:00

This past weekend was gorgeous here in Georgia... but I spent almost all of it inside at Stitches South. It was worth missing the sunny 90 degree days because of all the friends I had around me...

Amy & Laurie

Doug, Lou, and Sherrie

Wayne & Brittany (the Knit Witch)

my new friend Clara

Laurie, Sherrie, & Amy

Phyllis, Katey, & the Sanguine Gryphon

Brittany's family, our hosts at Scalini's

my new friend Fatimah

Sherrie, Katey, & Amy

Oh, and I did actually get some yarn too... mostly knit witch, miss babs, and some jaggerspun zephyr laceweight with a pattern for a gorgeous lace shawl.

The Point

2009-04-27T17:35:00.005-04:00

I am so sad to hear that The Point is closing on Wednesday. This was one of my favorite stores in Manhattan... and I am even more sad that I can't go to the sale since I am 1000 miles away!!!

KnitBook

2009-04-15T18:26:00.006-04:00

KnitBook: A good idea by Vogue Knitting, but it would cost a fortune to make a book with more than a few patterns.

I understand $5-6 per pattern because that's how much we pay for most PDF patterns. This is definitely not a bad price when you are paying by the pattern, but when we buy a whole book in the store, we are usually paying say $20-25 for a book with 15-20 patterns in it.

I understand it costs a lot to create a customized book (a lot more than volume printing by a publisher), but couldn't they have given some sort of discount if you are buying the patterns in volume? I don't expect the same rate as buying a book in a store, but you'd have to be crazy to pay $75-120 for a single book of patterns (leaving Alice Starmore out of this, of course).

I would probably be totally cool with this idea (love the spiral, lay-flat design, and probably would have even bought one eventually), if they cut the price in half or so... I don't know if they could even afford to run the business at say $45 for a 15 pattern, customized book, but since their current price is way out of my range (cause who's going to bother to make a book with only a few patterns in it), they just gave me the eventual goal of paring down my knitting mags by ripping out the good patterns and binding my own pages into a single book!

Happy Days

2009-04-05T18:48:00.005-04:00

Congratulations Dad & Anna!!!

Married March 29, 2009

With all the grandkids

Braelin

My nephew John with Sarah

Sarah & her new hairdryer

My brother Dave & nephew Jake

Christine & daughter Braelin

Dad & Anna

The gang at Longfellows

I also recently got a chance to host a knit night at my house... here's a highlight:

Jennifer & Sherrie

And my brother David came to town for a trade show and we spent the evening having dinner at Ted's Montana Grill with people from his company.

me & Dave

ATL at sunset

Snow Day

2009-03-02T17:42:00.007-05:00

Ok, not really. I did have to go to work today. This was the scene here yesterday though...

None of this stuck though. It was all gone by nightfall. Why then, were almost all schools in the area closed today? Why were the roads empty during rush hour (morning and late afternoon)? Why did a lot of people not come to work? I don't know, I guess just because we are in Georgia. Apparently, this little "snowstorm" is the worst we've had since the '93 "blizzard" (culminating in a whole 4-5 inches back then). I was asked by several people if I went to buy bread - yes, bread. Meanwhile, the empty road this morning on the way to work was completely dry and barely any snow blanketed the grass. Now, granted, there were some places like Athens (an hour away from here!) that got like 6" that stuck. But here, almost none. And the schools were closed. It was a nice ride to work today... took me about 3 minutes. It was even more empty than the roads on weekdays in the summer!

Spice Checker

2009-02-14T14:19:00.006-05:00

I was cleaning out my spice cabinet and trying to figure out how old any spices that didn't have dates on them were. I found this McCormick Spice Checker... very handy since most of my spices are this brand. I also found out that the majority of my spices were 10+ years old!

Sherwood in Action

2009-01-25T20:55:00.003-05:00

Remember the Sherwood sweater? Here is is in action:

Jason & Anthony doing their morning reading

An Evening with Friends

2009-01-25T20:46:00.004-05:00

Good friends, good food, good wine, good cupcakes, good kitty... what else could a group of knitters ask for???

Amy in her handknit top

Jennifer & Nicole giggling

Katey knitting

Nina

Sherrie & Prue

Cupcakes!

2009 Goals

2009-01-01T16:52:00.004-05:00

My knitting and life goals for 2008, which I first mentioned here were mostly successful. I fulfilled my 2008 life goals by April, hence the update in May. In short, I "got a new apartment" and "figured out my work situation". To put it another way, I quit my job in NJ, moved to Atlanta for a new job where I have a cute little townhouse (and by little, I mean about 3-4 times larger than my tiny place in NJ).

As for knitting, my plan was to knit at least 3 sweaters in 2008. I ended up knitting 3 adult sweaters and 1 child's sweater. A few of these were mentioned in my last couple posts. The only goal I did not meet this year was to design a sweater, which is understandable given the extremely hectic year and upheaval of my life.

So, my goals for 2009 are:

to finally design a sweater
to knit a fair isle sweater with steeking
to lose at least 20 pounds
to be further along financially than I currently am

2008 Knits in Review

2009-01-01T16:33:00.010-05:00

This year I knit (or crocheted) 50 different projects! Many of these were small, so I won't bother covering all of them (all can be seen in Ravelry), but here's some of the highlights that weren't mentioned in the last couple posts:

wrapped in tradition for Alaine's wedding

lace cardigan for mother's day

forecast sweater for me

wine -n- roses mitts for Becky's birthday

various koolhaas hats for various people

Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T17:32:00.010-05:00

I haven't posted in exactly 2 months as of today. Since SAFF, things have been a little hectic.

I have been knitting like crazy for Christmas gifts, pretty much since early fall but even more so in the last couple months. I'll post about what exactly I made in another post.

My hard drive crashed and I realized I hadn't been backing up nearly as often as I thought I had. So, I am rebuilding my pictures and files on my new computer (and yes, I now own an external hard drive to make backups easier).

Work has been a little busier with everyone working pretty heavily on different aspects of one project. It's still great to be in a place where most people actually like each other and normal work stuff is the worst that happens.

Thanksgiving was pretty cool. My friend Jennifer and I stayed here in Atlanta and made french toast and mimosas for breakfast, ate Thai food for dinner, and watched movies and knit all day. Our friend Katey joined us later in the evening.

As for Christmas, I went home to the northeast for a few days and saw only a fraction of the people I wanted to. I did get to see my family and a few friends though.

Dad in a rare pose: he's actually smiling!
[wearing noro striped scarf]

my nephews John and Jake in their new hats
[ring of fire & we call them pirates]

Grandma holding the ridiculously-sized box of Whitman's mom got her

Anthony playing with his new tool bench

sherwood sweater that I knit for Anthony
[details raveled here]

old friends catching up

the cool wooden reindeer I got from Pier1

SAFF 2008

2008-10-31T22:55:00.006-04:00

I am just going to post briefly because so much has happened since my last significant post. I will try to keep up a little better after this.

I've been traveling a bit for both work and pleasure lately. Last weekend, I spent 3 days in beautiful Asheville, NC knitting, spinning, shopping, and people watching. It was great to hang out with new and old friends at the Southeastern Animal & Fiber Fair (SAFF).

SAFF - a view from above

a tiny pygmy goat that is smaller than my cat

some of the Knitch gang wearing their handknits

As for actual knitting news, I knit this mini Shetland Triangle out of Malabrigo Lace for my friend Stephanie as a swap gift that my knitting group organized a while back.

Life has been hectic. Between the traveling and various "errands" I've had to do for work, I am glad I have this weekend pretty much to myself. I hope to make lots of progress on Christmas knitting and catch up on the Wii Fit.

Wii Fit

2008-09-22T19:10:00.003-04:00

Today, for the first time, my Wii Fit age was my real age!

Book Review: Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines

2008-09-18T20:32:00.005-04:00

When I bought the first Mason-Dixon Knitting book a couple years ago, I was buying it more for the witty read than the patterns (although there are a few I liked and even knitted). I just picked up their new one: Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines today. Let me first preface this by saying, I haven't read it yet. However, I've looked through it about three times already and I love the patterns in this one! And, from the little bits I did read, I fully expect to thoroughly enjoy reading it too.

First, the Metropole Coat is already calling my name. It's a classic-look linen stitch coat made of Lamb's Pride Bulky (about 11 skeins for the size I need... a coat needs some room).

There's also some amazing cabled socks, with the pattern disguising the teaching of seven different cable patterns!

The chapter on fair isle is overall awesome and I already want to make the Kiki Mariko rug. Yes, a "fair isle" rug. The Liberty throw is also gorgeous. Basically, both are knit in long tubes and then steeked.

The boy's sweater is super-cute but the smallest size is a 4. I may have to size this down to a 2, because I even have the yarn for this already! The Fern little girl's jacket is just precious... now I just need a little girl to knit for!

There are many other great patterns in this book, including Toto the Extremely Useful and Cute Potholder. This one's definitely on my list.

In short, I am very excited to see how great this book is. I expected it to be another great read with only a few patterns of interest to me. I am glad to say I was wrong! There are three more shops in the Atlanta shop hop to hit this weekend, and now there are several more things I will be adding to my forever growing list.

Some Random Pictures

2008-09-15T22:59:00.009-04:00

My newest handspun, which I am calling Raspberry Slush

My latest FO, Wine n Roses Mitts for Becky's birthday

Alaine & Keith when we were visiting them in Colorado Springs

The top of Pike's Peak in mid-August

Alaine & Keith's cats Sasha & Takoda

And finally, my Honey, getting into mischief

Yarn Sale

2008-08-30T00:55:00.003-04:00

Check out my stash on Ravelry to see what I am selling!!! Here's some info on what I am selling...

Cat Beds

2008-08-24T21:37:00.003-04:00

I love the idea for a vintage cat bed over at apartment therapy. Threadbangers has a cute cat bed-related video.

Contest!

2008-08-13T17:47:00.004-04:00

My friend at Knit and Purr is having a contest! Over here!

More Handspun

2008-08-09T23:51:00.012-04:00

I still had the Louet S10 wheel on loan last week and so spun some new yarn. This one is my favorite so far. I made about 125 yards from the 4 oz. of Chameleon Colorworks roving in the Indian Wedding colorway. I am calling it Sangria because it reminds me more of a summer sangria.

sangria merino/tencel

I bought the roving for this yarn almost 2 years ago at a fiber festival. It is wool and llama - about 50/50, I think. I don't remember how many ounces it was, but I ended up making about 375 yards. This picture does not do the color justice. It is a natural color (not dyed) that is more like a dark chocolate brown.

wool/llama

Here's a new picture of my kitty:

honey

And some more pictures from my garden:

The big tropical-looking plant on the top-right, which I originally bought at Ikea, is getting so big that I have re-potted it once and I may have to eventually re-pot it again.

My mom has a plant that has been around since she bought it at Walmart 15-20 years ago. It was about 2 feet tall when she bought it. It is now well over 8 feet tall with these ridiculously large leaves that she actually has to take a sponge to in order to clean them occasionally. It doesn't fit in her house anymore. I wonder if my plant will end up like this.

And some red tomatoes! There are #2 and #3. I forgot to take a picture of the first one that turned red. There's a green one in the back there that is still not red (and I took this picture several days ago). It's just amazing how much easier it is to grow stuff in Georgia!

Spinning

2008-07-31T20:01:00.005-04:00

I finally took the plunge and learned to spin from Katey. My first yarn was Blue Faced Leicester wool in the Klee colorway by Chameleon Colorworks. I spun this on a Louet S10 that I am renting from Only Ewe.

Pretty bad, huh?

Next, I finally got to spin up some wool I had bought (for the purpose of spinning on my drop spindle) at least a year ago at a fiber festival. This one came out just a little bit better.

I bought more Chameleon Colorworks fiber in Flamingo Sunrise. This was a merino tencel blend and I really like this one. It came out really nice with great colors, and shiny from the tencel, but I only have about 30 yards.

I couldn't resist a "trip" over to The Loopy Ewe, since I knew Sheri now carries roving. This is 8oz. Creatively Dyed SeaWool (70% wool, 30% seacell) in the Ocean colorway.

Here's Sakina Alpaca in the Mango colorway. I love this mixture of colors. It looks so interesting and I can't wait to see how it spins up.

Currently I am spinning a wool/llama blend that a bought a huge bag of close to two years ago at a fiber festival with the very optimistic idea that I'd drop spindle it.... riiiggghhht...

And now for some knitting:

Presto Chango Baby Sweater

Made for: Carrie's baby shower

Yarn: a little over 1 skein of Cascade Sierra cotton yarn

Buttons: sheep!

Notes: Great pattern but I wish I'd done my seaming better. More details in Ravelry.

Water Bottle Holder

Yarn: 1 skein Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy

Needles: US 3 douple points

Notes: I made the strap somewhat shorter than the pattern called for because I am short. I love this yarn and would like to make a summer top out of it.

Quick Yarn Shop Review

2008-07-13T19:53:00.005-04:00

Creative Yarns in Macon, Georgia: very large space, nice selection with good brands, lots of accessories, various kits and patterns knit up, spinning supplies, needle felting supplies, small sale section, good atmosphere... and only an hour and a half away...

On my way home I had a fried green tomato sandwich at the Whistle Stop Cafe! It looks exactly like it does in the movie...

My Day

2008-07-10T21:10:00.007-04:00

I walked out of my door today and noticed this snail right in front of my door...

When I arrived at work I found a gift on my chair from 2 of my co-workers. A couple of the highlights of the gift were a cute crocheted cupcake card and a Knitting to Go deck...

After lunch, I came back to some flowers at the reception desk for me from my family...

I left work early and went outside to take pictures of my gifts and saw how well my little mini garden is doing...

see all my herbs in the bottom corners of the picture?

pineapple sage

I have tomatoes!

Two Great Weekends

2008-07-05T19:38:00.013-04:00

Last weekend, my mom and her boyfriend, along with my grandma, came to visit. We had a great few days, including spending sometime in Historic Roswell, where mom looked for some art. We also went to Stone Mountain, where we took a train ride and the Ride the Ducks tour. The carving on the mountain is large and impressive. It's not as large, but more detailed than Mt. Rushmore, but really, they can hardly be compared.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and
Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on Stone Mountain

This was the first year in a long time I've had plans on Independence Day. My friend from work called me Thursday and told me her husband had tickets that a friend had given him to an Atlanta Braves game!

Christina, Becky, & Ed

Look at what great seats we had!

Tasha La Rae from Arrested Development sang the
National Anthem and God Bless America

It was a great night out. I don't think I'd ever been to a live baseball game before, and definitely not a professional one. The Braves won 6-2 to the Astros and there were fireworks after the game!

Today was the Ice Cream Festival in Newnan, GA, which we've been planning on going to for about a month. Our little gang kept growing and growing, but here's a picture of just the girls:

Becky, Christina, Courtney, Laura, and me

The best flavors I tried we lemon cream and orange cream (all homemade, of course). There were some cute little stores that we visited, and the town itself is beautiful! It is the City of Homes, and with good reason. The houses are large, mostly Victorian, and have huge wraparound porches, with beautiful gardens and stained glass windows.

A pretty church in Newnan

There are lot of little critters running around my neighborhood. This is partially just because we are in Georgia, and partially because there are woods behind my house. A couple of weeks ago there was a dragonfly on my porch the size of my hand. Today I saw a tiny lizard on my front porch that was about 2" long with a bright blue tail. And the other day, a squirrel was having lazy nap right outside my deck:

Forecast Sweater

2008-07-04T13:05:00.006-04:00

Pattern Notes
Pattern: Forecast from Knitty Winter 2005
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic
Needles: US 7 and 9

Modifications:
- 3 stitch instead of 5 stitch bobbles
- longer ribbing on sleeves
- ended sleeves in seed stitch, instead of purl ridges, as suggested by Katey
- I think I shortened the ribbing on bottom of sweater, but I don’t know if I also lengthened the bobbled section

Surprise from a Friend

2008-07-04T12:50:00.005-04:00

The other day in the mail, I got a birthday surprise in the mail from my friend in PA. It was a very generous gift with some sock yarn, lotion, notecards, bath fizz, a decorative dish, craft scissors, and best of all, a scissor point protector that she made herself!

Handmade Cards

2008-06-15T21:15:00.004-04:00

I went to a class taught by Jenn with some co-workers.

WWKIP

2008-06-15T20:44:00.004-04:00

As most knitters know, yesterday was World Wide Knit in Public Day. I spent the majority of the day with some of my new fiber friends at The Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock, GA, and Only Ewe and Cotton Too in Alpharetta. The first store had sales all day and we occasionally wandered in from the park outside to check them out. Most of the day we spent in the sun.

Katey spinning

the Snarky knitters and the Woodstockians

Woodstockians!

Once the party was over in Woodstock, we headed over to Only Ewe for more knitting and spinning.

Overall it was a nice day out, even with the brief thundershower in the afternoon, and even thought I did more ripping out than knitting.

Atlanta!

2008-06-02T20:49:00.006-04:00

In my last post, I mentioned some new things happening in my life. I left NJ for a new job in the Atlanta area. So far, other than moving away from my family and friends, I love it here.

Since I got here, the weather's been beautiful, and based on what people tell me, it's always beautiful. We have these thunderstorms that are crazy, with thunder like bombs dropping and lightning that completely lights up the sky. They don't last long though and then we are back to beautiful weather.

I love my new place. I finally have space and I even have one entire room (dining room) that is completely empty. Even my living room was almost empty until I got a couch this past weekend. I have a kitchen with lots of counter space, so I may try to get back to cooking (which I hated doing in my tiny NJ apartment). My patio with a little potted herb garden will also help with that. My craft room upstairs is so cute, mostly outfitted with Ikea tabletops and a chair. I also love my little shelves of yarn (which I got from HomeGoods!) all arranged in color order.

my little part of the world

semi-finished craft room

just small portion of my stash

All the neighborhoods (which they call subdivisions around here) are gated communities around this area. This concept is very foreign to me, outside of wildly expensive places that the average person can't afford. Here, this is the norm (at least in the metro suburbs). We have tons of little things that make it great like nature trails, fitness center, pools (yes, plural), beach volleyball, and tons more. A lot of things are within walking distance, both inside and outside the neighborhood, like a brand new library!

pond with geese in my neighborhood

Another new thing in my life is my new kitty. Her name is Honey and she's a two year old calico. The funny thing is that she looks very much like Auntie Em, my first cat when I was a teenager.

honey

My new job is good so far. I am still working in the color science field, but in a completely different industry. My job uses some of my skills from all seven years of college (which my previous job really didn't). The days here are longer, so when I get out of work, usually around 4:30, there is still a whole day ahead of me!

I haven't seen a whole lot of Atlanta yet. Most of Atlanta looks like the suburbs to me, but I guess I am used to seeing cities laid out more like NYC, Chicago, etc. So far, I've been to Ikea in Atlantic Station about 7 times since I've been here. Last weekend I went to the World of Coca-Cola, which is pretty fun with all their vintage ads and a 3D movie, as well as all the Coke products from around the world that you can drink. Across the street is a "food lounge" called Luckie that I happened to stop into because I was starving, and I realized very quickly it would be a cool place to take friends from out of town if we wanted a night out. They have great food, both sushi and "american", huge fish tanks, LED lighting, a dance floor, and a relaxed atmosphere.

Knitting seems to be a pretty big thing around here. It doesn't rival the knitting scene around NYC, but it probably rivals that of most of the other big cities in the country. There are lots of yarn shops in and around Atlanta. So far I've been to four of them: Only Ewe and Cotton Too is in the town I live in and it's a cute little place with a nice atmosphere, Cast-On Cottage is in the adorable little town of Roswell and has a huge selection (there's also a great Thai restaurant called Rice down the street!), and Why Knot Knit is the most recent shop I've gone to because I heard they were having a going out of business sale. Finally, Knitch is the furthest from me of those I've been to. It's in the Virginia-Highlands area of Atlanta, which is a cute little neighborhood. It has both the atmosphere and the selection. They don't seem to ever have sales though, which is disappointing. Whenever my LYS in NJ was having a good store-wide sale, I would buy a sweater's worth of yarn. They offered me coffee and asked if they could help me both times I was there. There seem to always be people sitting around the farm table knitting and drinking from the pitcher that's always being tended to.

For a few months before I moved here, I got to see my closest friend, Renee, and her family more often than usual, which was awesome, and I am sorry it had to end so soon. It was so nice being around friends, new and old, and family for a while. Renee's son, Anthony, has been the recipient of several of my knits over the last year. I gave Renee the Wild Stripes Blanket at her baby shower and I finally got some pictures of him using it:

wild stripes in action

isn't he the coolest kid?

I've been updating my Ravelry account, including adding my new stash (from my Atlanta yarn shop trips), and updating some of my projects. I still haven't sewn on the buttons or blocked Forecast and I'm half done with the Tomato, so those are the projects in the forefront, as well as the Classy Slip-Up Socks that I've been working on at my knitting group. I am really hoping to get back to one of the lace sweater projects that I started ages ago after those are done.

Well, that's my update in a nutshell. Now that I have real internet access for the first time in over five years, I hope to update my blog a little more often.

2008 Goals Update

2008-05-10T17:20:00.007-04:00

At the end of 2007, I posted about some goals:

Knitting-Related Goals for 2008

Make or finish at least 3 sweaters (since I am in serious sweater-making mode) with these as possibilities:

Ribbed Lace Sweater
Forecast
Dark Victory
Jawbreaker Cardigan
Aran Vest

Design 1 sweater, which I won't even try to start until after my sister's wedding in February

Other Goals/Goings On for 2008

Get a new apartment
Figure out the work situation
Alaine's Wedding, February 29th
Las Vegas trip with friends, January 11th-14th

Well, my knitting goals for 2008 are not going well yet. Much of the reason is because my "other goals" are complete! New apartment (check!), new job (check!), wedding (check!), vegas (check!). And all before the end of April! I'll probably mention more on the new job and apartment soon... I don't have internet at my new place yet, but hopefully when I do, I can start posting more again.

As for my knitting goals, I haven't been a total slacker. I did actually knit a short-sleeved cardigan for my mother and I am almost done with forecast. Hmm... I guess that will be 2 out of 3 - maybe I'm not doing so bad after all! I still want to design something this year though...

My Sister's Wedding

2008-03-24T15:57:00.006-04:00

My sister, Alaine, got married in Stowe, VT on February 29, 2008. It was a very small and beautiful ceremony. Alaine and Keith were married in front of a fireplace at the Green Mountain Inn. At the reception, my brother said a short prayer, we toasted with hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks, there was a hot chocolate bar, and we ate filet mignon and lobster. For dessert: maple creme brulee.

Alaine & Keith

Alaine & Dad

me & Alaine

The Wedding Party

And, for those who read for the knitwear content: the Wrapped in Tradition poncho from Wrap Style. I gave this to my sister on her wedding day.

Wrapped in Tradition Poncho

Source: Wrap Style (Interweave)
Yarn: 2 skeins Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere

Color: Latte

Needles: US 6 addi turbos lace

Time: June 2007 - February 2008

Most of this pattern is pretty easy if you are experienced with lace, have good, pointy lace needles, and use lots of stitch markers and "life lines". It would hve only taken me a month or two had I worked on it regularly. The hardest part was the bottom edging. That part is worked flat in a long strip and is "lace on both sides". In other words, there is no resting every other row, which makes it tough if you mess up (which I did a lot on this part). The rest is knit in the round after grafting the ends of the edging together and picking up stitches all the way around.

Spring 2008 Knitty

2008-03-11T22:02:00.006-04:00

The new Knitty is out and I just wanted to make a few notes, more for my own memory than for anyone else's purposes. This is a good issue with several patterns that I could see myself making and at least one I may start on semi-immediately.

Nob Hill is a cute bulky shrug made with Art Fibers yarn. The author notes that it is the same colorway, but two different dye lots that are so drastically different that it looks like she purposely chose a different color for the neck and sleeves. It looks great on the thin model and may not look as great on me, but as she mentions, is a great piece for layering in the changing weather.

Marjorie is a pretty, basic sweater with some nice styling and shaping.

Talia is a very interesting cardigan-vest that I may try to knit up soon. It uses a relatively inexpensive yarn (Lamb's Pride Worsted) and has great shape and details.

Yosemite is a lightweight, cap sleeve sweater with a cable rib design. It has a very nice fitted, sleek look.

Honeycomb is another vest. It's pretty basic with a simple stitch, but the shaping is nice and for some reason I am into vests lately. I never actually wear vests. I used to hate them when I was a kid when those Express (non-knit) buttoned vests were in style. But now, all the cute knit vests look like simple, quick knits. I actually have one that has a fake shirt underneath (I love Macy's INC brand), but none that I have knit myself. So, while this one is not particularly unique (unlike Talia, above), it's cute and is worth a nod.

I love the Spirogyra mitts for some reason. I feel like this is a near-exact same pattern as a famous sock pattern that everyone knits, but they look really nice in the author's handspun yarn.

Jenna Wilson has also written an article on creating/calculating more sizes than the one you designed so that you can publish a multi-size pattern. Note to self: remember to read this.

Lace Wedding Garter

2008-02-26T14:30:00.007-05:00

My sister got married this past weekend (on Leap Day!) in Stowe, VT. I hope to have pictures from the wedding posted soon, but for now, I thought I'd share a pattern for one of the gifts I gave her. It is a heavily modified version of Diane Willett's Knitted Lace Wedding Garter. Basically, it is thinner and with room for only one ribbon. In addition, there are no lace yarn overs at the edges, just very simple increasing and decreasing. I also simplified the finishing process. Originally, I began Willett's pattern as written, and I struggled with it because of my lack of lace needles (read: pointy) in the correct size. In addition, I wanted something simpler because it was getting close to the wedding date.

Lace Wedding Garter

MATERIALS
Yarn: Gloriana Silk (12 strand) using 4 strands at a time
Needle: US 1
Notions: Thin ribbon, sewing thread & needle, small fabric flowers or ribbon, elastic (about 1/4" wide)
Abbreviations: Kf&b = Knit in front and back of the stitch
YO = yarn over
SSK = slip, slip, knit
K2tog = knit 2 sts together

LACE PATTERN
Row 1: K1, Kf&B, K2, Kf&b, K1 (8 sts)
Row 2: Purl across
Row 3: K4, YO, YO, K4 (10 sts)
Row 4: P4, K1, P1, P4
Row 5: K1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1 (8 sts)
Row 6: Purl across
Row 7: K1, SSK, K2, K2tog, K1 (6 sts)
Row 8: Purl across

INSTRUCTIONS
CO 6 sts.
Repeat 8 lace rows to desired length (approx. circumference of thigh).
BO loosely.

FINISHING
Weave in ends.
Wash and pin out to block.
Sew ends together on WS.
Weave ribbon through eyelets. Sew ribbon together on WS.
Cut elastic to approx. 3/4 length of garter. Weave elastic through eyelets behind ribbon. Sew together on WS.
Sew bow or flowers to front of garter to cover any visible seams.

Life is Changing

2008-02-17T21:11:00.005-05:00

A lot has happened since my last post. Much of my life is drastically different. I've decided not to go too much into that here and now, but eventually I will probably elaborate. Generally though, I am far less stressed, and even somewhat content.

Knitting is still a big part of my life. It seems to play a large part in making new friends and learning new things. I took a class at Stix N Stitches not too long ago, which was the first formal knitting class I've ever taken. I already had a good grasp on the techniques taught, but I knew there was a faster way to do things, and I think I took some useful tips away from the class. Part of the reason for taking it was the social aspect - a bunch of my friends were also taking it. The class was on stranded colorwork, and I made these to hats:

The Loopy Ewe Swap that I participated in was completed recently. I sent my partner, Heather, a bunch of goodies, including the Teosinte Socks from KnitSpot that I knit:

My other partner, Sarah (the one that was knitting for me), completely spoiled me. This is a picture of almost everything she sent me:

The package included some chocolate and a lollipop, a Loopy Ewe bag and tape measure, some stitch markers, two note cards (one blank and one that she very thoughtfully explained everything she sent), some of her own handspun yarn (I was so touched by this), an adorable mug cozy with a hummingbird pin on it, and last but definitely not least, socks knit from Cookie A's Mingus pattern in Numma Numma yarn! She even sent me the leftover yarn for mending. The only thing missing from the picture is Cookie A's German Stocking pattern that she included:

Here's some close-ups of the other goodies:

Aren't they beautiful? Sarah was very good to me. She put all this together, all while working on a couple other swaps (I found out from her blog) and with kids! How does she find the time? Thanks Sarah!

Vogue Knitting ~ Winter 07/08

2008-01-02T20:48:00.001-05:00

I just picked up the newest issue of Vogue Knitting and I just had to post about it. This is by far the best issue in a long time. There are almost 15 patterns in it I may actually knit!

The first section, Ocean View, is all about lacy sea-inspired shawls and wraps, and all are designed by very well-known designers, including Nicky Epstein, Teva Durham, Lily Chin, Norah Gaughan, Cookie A., and Annie Modesitt. They are all beautiful, but I think my favorites are Epstein's Medallion Capelet and Cookie A's Square Shawl. Seeing the close-up swatch on her blog really made this pattern for me.

The next section, Oh... Cables!, also has several great patterns. This is great considering I don't even knit cables regularly and yet, I really want to knit a couple of these. I love the Bramble Stitch Dress (yes, I said dress) which is so cute and would probably be flattering on most people on the thinner side (or at least without my hips). The Cabled Cardigan is also cute, but my favorite is the Cape Collared Jacket.

Built for Tweed has 6 sweater jackets. My favorites are the Shawl Collar Jacket and the Tweed Jacket. The Puff Sleeve Jacket is super-cute and would be great trendy but professional look.

The next section is short with only 3 long sweaters, including one in crochet. Since I have several skeins of Twinkle's Soft Chunky, I may greatly modify the cute (but for skinny people) dress into a shorter sweater since I have had no other ideas so far for the yarn.

The last section is the only disappointing part, and is the section that the cover photo reflects. It's not their worst section ever, but there is really only one pattern that I think is pretty cool, but it's unlikely I'd ever knit it.

An extra bonus in this issue is a page and a half article by Meg Swansen on EZ's Pie Are Square Shawl.

Ok, so a great issue... packaged inside a horrible cover. This is definately one time when you should definately NOT judge a book by it's cover. This issue makes me want to add (or replace?) a few sweaters on my '08 to-knit list in my last post.

New Year's Update

2007-12-31T16:16:00.002-05:00

This year has been pretty hectic, hence the complete lack of regular posts on my blog. I assure you, my very few regular readers, that if you are still reading my blog, it is not going away. I hope to post more often like I used to, but I don't know exactly when I will be able to start doing that. Much of my time this year has been taken up by actually working, and when not doing that, stressing about work. I am still knitting, although not as often as I'd like. Raveling more than I'd like (it's addicting!). And reading more than last year. In addition, I have been abnormally addicted to Family Guy, specifically Stewie. I also had to get a new car this year for unexpected reasons (I was due for a new one soon anyway though).

The sad news for the year is that mom's cat, Debbie, who I posted about a year ago, died a few months back. She was really old, but always looked like a kitty because of her face and fluffy fur. She is greatly missed.

I joined a new knitting group, to supplement not replace, my first one. Unfortunately, the knitting group I originally joined does not meet as often as I'd like because of other commitments in their lives. Occasionally when we meet up, it is not to knit, but to hang out. But knitting time or not, they are great people to hang out with when the occasion arises. My new knitting group is actually one that meets at an LYS. I never thought I'd do that, but I've found that the large (very large) group that meets at Stix N Stitches in Montclair (NJ) is a wonderful group of regulars and some occasional new people. There are even a couple of people there that I feel comfortable and friendly with, including Monica (who I got the idea for the below FO/UFO lists from).

Other news is that last year's yarn diet resolutions did not work so well. While I successfully "dieted" for about 3 months earlier in the year, I ended up spending more overall for the year. So, I have a new plan for this year, which will include a specific monthly yarn budget carefully tracked in a log which will sit right in front of me on my desk. If I am even close to successful with this plan, I will spend half as much in '08 as I did in '07. On the plus side, I became a Loopy Groupie in '07!

I am hoping to update my 2007 knit gallery sometime soon. I have been putting this off, hoping that Ravelry (many-a-knitter's newest addiction this year since it opened last spring) would be open to the public soon. When Ravelry is open, I will likely just link to my projects within it, so I don't have to double post onto my own site. It looks like Ravelry will stay in beta for a while though.

A few lists for you:

Finished Objects in 2007 (in no particular order)

Calorimery in Crystal Palace Fjord
2x2 Fingerless Mitts, also in Fjord
Fuzzy Feet in Brown Sheep Worsted
Snowflake Stocking #2 in Mnos del Uruguay
Humbug Bag in Garne-Studio Silke-Tweede
Baby Soft Cardigan with Hippo Buttons in Patons Shetland Chunky
Hourglass Sweater in Noro Cash Iroha
Ball Band Dishcloth in Sugar n Cream
Booga Bag in Noro Kureyon
Big Hat in Rowan Big Wool (crochet)
Scoop Neck Tank in Rowan Calmer
Clapotis in Autumn House Farms
Wild Stripes in KnitPicks Merino Style
Outdoor Snuggle in Rowan Wool Cotton

Unfinished Objects for 2007

Wrapped in Tradition
Secret Project
KnitKnot Wrap
Crochet Ripple Blanket
Ribbed Lace Sweater
Diamond Lace Scarf
Anastasia Socks
Silk Lace Top

Knitting-Related Goals for 2008

Make or finish at least 3 sweaters (since I am in serious sweater-making mode) with these as possibilities:

Ribbed Lace Sweater
Forecast
Dark Victory
Jawbreaker Cardigan
Aran Vest

Design 1 sweater, which I won't even try to start until after my sister's wedding in February

Other Goals/Goings On for 2008

Get a new apartment
Figure out the work situation
Alaine's Wedding, February 29th
Las Vegas trip with friends, January 11th-14th

Cute Embroidery

2007-11-20T22:18:00.001-05:00

Take a look at these absolutely adorable embroidered ornaments!!!

Sensual Knits

2007-11-19T23:27:00.001-05:00

Sensual Knits by Yahaira Ferreira wasn't supposed to come out until January 2008. But I found it at B&N (Paramus, NJ) tonight. I was so excited to see it. (Sensual Crochet was also out, and while I liked looking through it, I knew I couldn't buy two books in one night).

Anyway, I love Sensual Knits (subtitled: Luxurious Yarns Alluring Designs). There are so many patterns in this book that I would knit, and even more that I would knit if I was a little smaller. That is not to say they don't come in my size. I think all but one pattern is calculated for at least my size. But some patterns would just look better on someone less "hippy" (the knit dresses, for example).

The book is broken into five sections after the introduction: Barely There, Sensual Chic, Wrapped in Luxury, Feminine Mystique, and Magic is in the Details. In Barely There, the first three patterns are my favorites, all camisoles. My one complaint (of probably the whole book) is that there are not enough pictures of the backs of the knits. This is especially a problem for the Demeter Camisole since the description reads, "... the low scooped back screams 'siren'". I am already thinking of The Loopy Ewe for much of this section.

The sweaters in the Sensual Chic section of the book are all really nice, but I think my favorites are the Transparency Sweater designed by Veronique Haegeli and the Ramona Sweater by Jared Flood. I think Sheri will need to add Silk Cloud to her Shibui Knits line that she carries... I'll have to ask her about that. The Multiplicity Sweater reminds me a lot of an Express Sweater that I bought a couple years ago - long tunic length basic turtleneck with buttons up the side. Modalura's version has a much more interesting neckline though.

The cardigans and jackets in the next section are beautiful. I pretty much like all of them and love a couple of them, including the cover pattern. The fourth section is all dresses: beautiful, but unlikely I'll knit any of them anytime soon.

The final section includes all the accessories. By far my favorite in this section are the Lily-of-the-Valley Opera Gloves. Gor-GEOUS! and made with Habu!

Overall, I love this book... did I say that already? Well I'll say it again. I love it. The patterns, the writing, and especially the photos. Very well lit and beautiful.

Another tiny favorite is Yahaira's dedication in the beginning: "For the 'pure knitters' who make every day surrounded by yarn seem sane"... she knows us well.

Bay Area

2007-10-07T17:20:00.009-04:00

Last week I had to go to the San Francisco Bay Area on business. I took a few extra days and stayed the weekend after my business was complete because I had never been to California before. On my first free day, I visited Pier 39, where I saw the loud and smelly (but cute) sea lions.

I couldn't believe how close Alcatraz actually was. See it there behind the seagull? I was standing very close to the him. None of the gulls seemed to care about people being right next to them.

I took a boat ride around the bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Alcatraz. The tours that actually stopped at Alcatraz were full (as I had been warned by some friends), but my boat went pretty close.

After my day by the water, I drove around the city a bit, and went to the two yarn shops that came highly recommended to me: Art Fibers and ImagiKnit. I loved both of these stores for very different reasons. Both had friendly, helpful staff, and a comfortable atmosphere.

Art Fibers spins and dyes all their own yarns. They have almost anything you can think of, even some yarn that looks like rope. I came away with Carizza, Ming, and Sylph.

ImagiKnit is a regular yarn shop, but large, compared to those in the NYC area, and very well-stocked. I couldn't believe the diversity of their yarns and how many lines of each brand they had. I almost bought something that is rare around here, but not rare in general. That is, until I spotted the real rarity. Now, I love Malabrigo yarn normally anyway, so when I picked these skeins up and felt how different they were, I knew I had something special. A glance at the tag made me do a double take: 50% merino wool and 50% silk. Since when does Malabrigo make this? Well, it turns out, only two bags were sent to the US (from Uruguay, of course), and both to ImagiKnit. These were the last two skeins from those only two bags (the owners know each other I was told). In 2008, Malabrigo will be releasing this yarn in the US, but in a different weight. I am so excited to have something this rare in my stash. The picture below does not do the beautiful color justice!

On my second free day, I was more in the mood for a drive in the country than hanging out in the city. So, I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and headed north.

First stop was the Marin Headlands, a beautiful area consisting of little other than nature. I saw some surfers and people riding horses, as well as a lighthouse that I couldn't get close to because it was closed while I was there (it's very tiny in the picture below).

I started driving (after stopping for lunch in Sausalito) towards wine country. I ended up in the Sonoma area. Downtown Sonoma was having their annual vintage festival, so I stopped by there for a while and tasted some wine. I also happened by a yarn shop, Sonoma Yarns, which I did not expect because I didn't think to look for any on the internet before my drive. It was small, more like some of the NJ shops, and a needle felting class was going on. I was greeted by a cute, scruffy dog, and the owner who was really nice. I just picked up some Crystal Palace kid mohair to possibly make the sideways drop-stitch scarf that I had seen knitted up at Art Fibers.

I stopped again in Sausalito on my way back for dinner. I loved this little historic town. I had no idea that I would find such a cute little place near San Francisco. All the houses in this town are stacked up on hills, and from downtown, on the waterfront, there is a perfect view of San Francisco, Alcatraz, Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Bay Bridge. There were lots of sailboats, and a cruise ship both times that I stopped there. I had dinner at Scoma's and it was wonderful. As I was sitting there, and the sun was setting, I kept looking over at Alcatraz. It seems so odd that it is sooo close out there in the bay. It must have been a little freaky for Bay Area people back in the day when the prison was working. I can definitely see why some prisoners tried to swim across. It just looks so close!

Here's a view of San Francisco from Sausalito, getting close to sunset:

Going on a Trip

2007-09-20T22:36:00.001-04:00

I have to go to San Francisco on business next week. I have training for 2 days and then am staying for the rest of the weekend on my own. So, my question is (for the very few who might actually still be reading since I have been neglecting my blog), what are the places I can't miss... yarn stores or otherwise. I have never even been to California, so I don't know anything about the area. If anyone has ideas, leave me a comment.

Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts

2007-09-20T21:11:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in 2 months now. There are various reasons for that but I won't go into them now. I have had lots of things to post about in the last few months but every time I actually get a chance to, it seems like the last post idea was too long ago to bother.

Anyway, I went to 3 different B&N stores tonight looking for a book that I knew was out, because Purl got it in this week. I finally found it.

Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson is such a beautiful book. I knew it would be since both Last Minute Knitted Gifts (also by Hoverson) and Last Minute Fabric Gifts (by Treen & Philippi) were also very beautiful. I was so happy to find out that Hoverson was working on a new book because her first book is a staple in many knitter's libraries. I love visiting both Purl Soho and Purl Patchwork whenever I go into the city. While I am not a big sewer/quilter yet, I did start sewing a little last year, and am hoping to get a bigger house and then a better sewing machine in the near future.

Before I give any more detail, I should mention that since I just bought this book about an hour ago, I have not yet actually read the introduction or the details in the back. I have looked through all projects and read their descriptions. Some of the projects were actually shown on the Purl Bee blog before the book actually came out (and I linked those).

As with the other books, they are divided into chapters by the length of time the projects take to complete. So, they start small with Less than 2 Hour Gifts. The first project is On Pins + Needles. These are small felt needle books. I have actually made a needle book from felt before. What makes these so cute is that they use printable cotton that has been printed with a title and then sewn on the cover. They are sewn into tissue paper for gift giving.

Next are Quilted Coasters, Simple Pillowcases, Bird Ornaments, and a Made-By Patch (also using printable cotton- I'll have to try this stuff!). Next are Scrapbooks. I love this project. They begin with Moleskine Cahier notebooks and scrap fabrics are randomly sewn through the covers. Useful and beautiful!

Next are the 2-4 Hour Gifts, beginning with the Flannel Baby Blanket and Pierced Pillows. I love the Simple Bag, which really is simple. I have many bags that are similar to this from sales at Old Navy that I often use for knitting projects, but this project uses cute Amy Butler fabrics in contrasting colors. Next is the Super Quick + Easy Baby Quilt and Kelly's Pincushions. These pincushions are also very similar to the pincushion I made around the same time as the needle book. The difference here is that all different fabrics are used for the "pumpkin" pieces, instead of having only one fabric. They are done beautifully in vibrant primary colors.

The Colored Pencil Roll is one of my favorite projects in this book. I've always wanted one of these things when I have seen them in art stores, but I don't draw, so I could never justify buying one. The special thing about this one is the rainbow of fabrics on the inside and the interesting stitch pattern.

In the 4-8 Hour Gift section is the Puzzle Ball (it sounds like Joelle had some fun figuring out how to make this one!), the Happy Birthday Pillow (so bright and cheery!), the Patchwork Tablecloth + Napkins, the Pinwheel Duvet Cover, the Sweet Dreams Sailboat, and Peanut the Wee Elephant. Peanut is my favorite in this section. She is so sweet and was designed by Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls.

The 8-12 Hour Gifts section includes Six of One Half-Dozen of the Other, Just Sweet Enough, and Cutting Corners. The next three quilts are great. First is Little Bits which uses chocolate brown fabric with a strip of randomized blue squares towards the bottom. It is so modern-looking and could be used in either an adult's or child's room. Next is Summer Breeze, which is just pretty and feminine. Stacked Coins is brown with simple diamond quilting and strips of brightly colors complementary fabric that is unevenly cut - another modern-looking quilt.

In the More Than 12 Hour Gift section are more of my favorites from the book. Follow-the-Lines Baby Quilt is floral fabric than has been hand-quilted to outline all the flowers! This looks very labor-intensive... but since I don't have a good sewing machine right now, this might be one of the more feasible projects for me right now.

Next is the Color-Wheel Quilt. Since I am a Color Scientist for a living, this quilt especially speaks to me. It reminds me of a wall hanging of a color wheel that Dorothy Nickerson (famous female color scientist) put together and which hangs in the Munsell Color Science Lab at RIT (where I went to school).

Someone to Watch Over You is just an interesting wall hanging. The (Sort Of) Crazy Quilt is beautiful with vibrant orange-dominant colors and intricate hand-stitching. Also in this section is the Washed Silk Quilt and the Log Cabin Quilt (which Joelle says a quilting book could not be without).

The beautiful, small depth-of-field images are vibrant, and amazingly lit. I can't wait to make some of these projects and even just reading the rest of the book is getting me excited. Even though I rarely sew and don't have a working sewing machine, I have a small fabric stash that I can't wait to work through so I can justify visiting Purl Patchwork sometime soon. The last major thing I made was the Simple Leather-Handled Shoulder Bag from Amy Butler's In Stitches. I loved making this and still use it.

Now if I could just get my sewing machine to work...

Placemat Purse

2007-07-15T00:50:00.002-04:00

Note to self:

Make yourself one of these adorable placemat purses, via Crafty Daisies.

Perfect Socks?

2007-06-16T22:48:00.001-04:00

Note to self- check out Brenda's formula for the perfect sock:

Finally, after years of searching, I have found it: This toe + this heel + calf shaping (easily achieved by switching needle sizes) - stupid unnecessary ribbing + incredible I-cord Bind Off = The Perfect Sock.

Also, clean grandma's lace using Martha's instructions.

Summer 2007 Knitty

2007-06-13T19:27:00.001-04:00

My favorite patterns from the new issue of Knitty:

Unmentionables - this pattern reminds me of Witches Britches from Knit 2 Together

Coupling - I love the stitch pattern on these socks

Wisp - for some reason I love the way this looks and it seems so simple, plus I have this yarn in my stash (surprise, surprise)

Grrr - this is an adorable washcloth- looks like it'd be great for kids

In non-knitting news, I am trying out the beta version of the Safari browser and so far I am loving it!

Ravelry!

2007-06-07T00:16:00.001-04:00

I got my invite to Ravelry! Now I can do all the things I have been wanting to for a while... inventory my yarn (at least better and in a more organized way than I've done previously), books, needles, projects, etc. I am loving it so far, especially the cute little bookshelves. [Note: Ravelry is currently in beta and is gradually adding members that request an invite]. Anyone on ravelry who wants to be my "friend"???

Sorry for the lack of blogging. It has gotten to the point where I haven't even been reading (at least not much more than skimming)/commenting as often. Work seems to be getting in the way of life at the moment. I did, however, start reading Angela's Ashes. I haven't started a new book that I think I might actually get to finish in over a year or more.

I do have things to post about... eventually: a small bit of travel, my job situation (maybe), new projects including *gasp* a crochet ripple blanket...

Crafty Stuff

2007-04-27T20:09:00.002-04:00

I love the new line of Martha Stewart stuff at Michael's stores. The website of the related line will open in May, Martha Stewart: Crafts. Most of the stuff is scrapbooking-related items, but there are kits for children's parties, stationary, favors, invitations, photo albums, keepsake boxes, etc.

I tell ya, Martha (or at least her people) is one smart cookie. All of the stuff goes together. I didn't realize it until I kept looking at the different things. Then I realized one thing went with another thing which went with another thing. For example, all of the little bits and pieces, and tags, and tapes, and embellishments, etc. all come in packages that have holes punched in the bottom of them. Then I realized that the little free crafty idea pages that Michael's always have (the ones for this line of things) all have holes on the sides of them. Then I realized that there were storage binders that until I saw all the punched holes, I hadn't known what they were for! They have 6 rings, so that all the small, medium, and larger packages all can fit neatly into your very own little crafty binder!

Well, since I am not a big scrapbooker, a big chunk of it didn't apply to me. I did find some little matchbox-sized boxes to put together that are for favors. What I will use them for I have no idea! I also got a set of 3 paper journals in cute patterned covers. I am loving the keepsake collector's boxes too, but I didn't buy one since I can't think of what to use one for.

Scoop Neck Tank

2007-04-24T20:35:00.002-04:00

Pattern Notes
Scoop Neck Tank from Vogue Knitting Knit Simple Magazine Spring/Summer 2007

Yarn: Rowan Calmer in #482
Needles: US 8

I was looking for a simple tank top in my closet on one of the rare warm days early his year and somehow I couldn't find one. Also I really wanted to divert myself from my more difficult projects, so I cast-on for this much easier project. This was a very last-minute, not at all planned, Friday night at 11pm-cast-on-after-digging- through-my-stash type of project. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out nearly as well as I had hoped.

I had this Calmer in my stash (because we all know I am "knitting from my stash"...yeah, that's working out well). The only major modifications that I made was lengthening it by about 3" and I knit in the round up to the arm holes (instead of on straights). I had some major problems with this pattern, most of which were my fault, and all of which I can't believe I did given the simplicity of this pattern. I guess I figured that instead of paying attention just a little (unlike the lace project which requires my full attention), I would not pay any attention at all! Can anyone see my mistakes? A couple of them are pretty obvious...

Family & Friends

2007-04-22T22:14:00.002-04:00

I have gone back to my hometown a couple times in the last month (which is more than usual for me since it's a couple hours away). The first was Easter weekend. My best friend, Renee, who was only a few months pregnant when she last visited me, was due on April 7th. She was early and by the time I got home that weekend, Anthony Joseph was 4 days old. He was sooo tiny and barely woke up in the couple hours I was holding him. This is a picture that either Renee or her husband took on Easter Day.

This past weekend was my brother's 40th birthday party. There was good food and good company, including family and my brother's friends. The cake was printed with a picture of my brother from when he was 14 years old.

This is my brother and his amazing kids, John and Jake.

This past weekend was also a continuation of my mother's knitting lessons. I have been teaching her on and off since August. We went to Saratoga Needle Arts where she bought a couple skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas 100% alpaca yarn to do a simple scarf. Although I tried to convince her that she is ready for a simple sweater, she wasn't havin' it. She swears she can only knit something "flat". So, we chose a simple "mistake-rib" pattern and she is well on her way.

I am only on my 9th "point" of the secret project, even though I vowed to have the edging done by the end of April (which requires a total of 20 points). If I get moving on it, I can definately finish in the next week or so... I have just been procrastinating a lot, as well as starting to work long hours again.

Look How Pretty

2007-04-18T23:08:00.001-04:00

Look at how pretty and creative this is...

The blogger, who's name I do not know, has been doing a series on Playing With Color. Since I am a color scientist by trade, the topic is very interesting to me. Someday I would like to look further into the technical aspects of some color stuff relating to knitting... if there is such a thing. However, don't expect any exploration of this topic anytime soon since work seems to continually get in the way of my blogging and knitting lately... unfortunately.

Runway Knits

2007-04-18T21:30:00.001-04:00

I just picked up the book Runway Knits by Berta Karapetyan, who is the founder of Karabella Company. First let me say, this is a very pretty book. Underneath the book jacket is a plain, black, matte cover with simple red and white text. Inside are nearly 30 patterns separated into the categories Spirited, Playful, Demure, and Driven, all following a very short introduction.

The great thing about this book is that it doesn't waste any space on knitting instructions... so it's definately not for beginners (although there are a couple of easier patterns in it). In the back is half a page of abbreviations, a yarn substitution guide, and an index. The rest is all patterns, and very nice ones at that. Before I get to those, let me just say I was impressed with the yarn substitution guide.

There are some people (I won't mention any names) who have their own yarn brands who use only their own yarns in their pattern books. This one is no exception. It is all Karabella (the author's son's brand). The difference here is that the yarn substitution guide assumes that you may not want to buy the Karabella yarns and doesn't seem to push you in that direction- this is in addition to the fact that it has a yarn sub guide at all! While it doesn't give you another brand name, the guide tells you the names of the Karabella yarns used in the book, their approximate weight, and a description; all for the purpose of finding a substitute with a similar drape, texture, and appearance. There is also a warning on substituting by yardage, not just by number of skeins (which might be obvious to most knitters who are knitting from this book in the first place).

Okay, on to the patterns. The book being called Runway Knits, it is safe to assume that all the models in the book are tiny. A couple are even beyond tiny. However, there is some larger sizing in the book, as well as some non-sized items for everyone. Here's the rundown on the largest [bust] sizes for each pattern (because so few of us care about the smallest sizes):

38" - 4 patterns
39" - 1
40" - 5
41" - 6
42" - 3
44" - 1
46" - 1
No size - 7

You'll note this makes 28 patterns, but a couple of them are sets (hat/scarves) that make the 30 that the book claims. Here's the other thing: Some of the size 38" patterns are sooo good, it would totally be worth the time it takes to do the size-up calculations! Okay, I know... I sounded like a cheerleader there- but the more I look at this book, the more patterns in it I like!

Some of my faves are the Little Black Dress, Diamond Top, Leaf-Paneled Sweater, Seawave Turtleneck, Silky Turtleneck, Roman Candle Sweater, A-Line Jacket, and the Leaf-Drop Sweater.

The Little Black Dress is super-cute, but unfortunately would looks terrible on me due to my hips. It's knit mostly in stockinette for a size 38" (max) bust with lace sleeves, hem, and neck, in cotton.

The Diamond Top is also cotton. It's a fitted sweater (max 41") with capped sleeves and a simple stitch pattern.

The Leaf-Paneled Sweater is actually more of a halter top/mock-turtle-style for summer, also knit in cotton. The lace leaf pattern is very pretty and travels up the center and sides of this tunic-length halter (38" max).

The Seawave Sweater is a long-sleeve sweater in extra-fine merino wool for a 40" bust (max) and a wave stitch pattern. It is pictured in a jewel-toned sea-green color.

The Silky Turtleneck is also sort of a halter top/mock-turtle-style, but this time knit in silk with a lace-leaf or wave pattern and scalloped edges (39" max).

The Roman Candle is one of the bigger sweaters with a 42" bust, a basketweave cable pattern, long sleeves, and a high neck. It's knit in a beautiful red-hued merino.

And finally, the A-Lined Jacket is the largest pattern (which makes sense, it being a jacket and all- 46"). The cutest thing about this wool jacket is the extra-large buttons that adorn the front.

Basically what I am saying here is that I highly recommend this book as much as I can without having actually knit anything from it (I just bought it an hour ago). The knitting experience of this author tells me she is probably very good at writing patterns. She mentions in the intro that she has been knitting since she was 12 (in Russia) and her customers at her two yarn shops have helped her a lot in knowing what the customer wants (in terms of pattern-writing). If nothing else, go to B&N and look at the pretty pictures of the flawlessly made-up models in beautiful knits.

Vogue & Sensual Knits

2007-04-03T20:14:00.002-04:00

I can't wait for Yahaira's Sensual Knits to come out. This book looks so promising as one I will definitely need for my collection. Just look at that cover! There is a good description from the publisher here. I am also sort of looking forward to this one, which will probably have skimpier knits than Sensual Knits, but which I hope doesn't end up like this one, which might be useful to me if I was 10 years younger and a size 2. I am hoping here for a couple of sexy while still being classy, adult pattern books that are not raunchy, cheesy, or only for the skinny models that reside between the pages.

I have also been reading The Best of Vogue Knitting lately. I don't actually own this book and I probably won't buy it (since I already have an abundance of knitting books). But, one of my favorite pasttimes is going to B&N (often) to relax with a hot chai and a knitting book. It seems that since this book came out I have read a few articles each time I see it. It is a collection of the best articles of Vogue Knitting from the past 25 years. Note that I said articles- there are no patterns here (well maybe an EZ pattern here and there that is described instead of written in knitting abbreviations). This book is great because it has articles on techniques (both well- and little-known), famous (and not as famous) knitters (men and women), articles on design, and much much more. I love the articles on Fair Isle and Bohus knitting. The great thing is no article is more than 2 single-side pages long! So, you get quick snippets of reads with a lot of information in them, and all written by great knitters!

Okay, so I broke down (again) and bought some yarn... I know, I know... but it was a great deal for some great alpaca laceweight! I got it on Destash, which I have been stalking (mainly out of boredom) despite the yarn diet. I have actually refrained from most of the great deals (or just plain beautiful yarn) that I have seen. This yarn is plied with 2 slightly different shades of the same hue to give it a lot of visual interest. The origin is an alpaca farm somewhere in Ontario. The yarn is sooo soft, and I probably have enough yarn here for 3 shawls!