Notes On The Summer So Far...

This summer has been gross. July was one of the hottest on record. Yuck. August, although cooler has been crazy muggy. It has been wholly uninspiring for blogging but phenomenal for knitting. Although I don't think I can credit the heat as much as momentum for that one. Anyway here are some random notes on this summer

-There is one thing and one thing only that is awesome about days over 100 degrees and that is the Lion Brand heat wave discount at the studio. On the hottest day we had this summer I managed to stop in, grab some alpaca and merino on my way to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2.5 hours of arctic movie theatre air conditioning) and when I get all distracted and failed to ask the super secret question before they finished ringing me up, they voided and fixed it for me anyway. Thanks guys!

-I am a little bit in love with this new magenta sparkly yarn Lion Brand just came out with. It's Vanna's Choice Glamour. The name makes me cringe and when I look at the fiber content it makes me cringe a little more (I grew into a fiber snob, what can I say), but then I watch it sparkle and I am a little bit in love. The same part of me that opted for the pink iMac when I went to college, loves this pink yarn.

-One of my new favorite stores, Gotham Fine yarns, went out of business. While I am sad to lose a yarn store that was so convenient to my train stop and run by cool people, the sale prices were pretty awesome.

-I discovered the show Bones this summer. I am way late to the game on this one. I did not know that it was so much more than a procedural and I am obsessed. I may already be 29 but I want to be Emily Deschanel when I grow up.

-This season's True Blood is like a Middleman palette cleanser. Just when I think I've seen enough Middleman, I watch an episode of True Blood with the new character Debbie Pelt and I am so horrified by what they did to Brit Morgan that I can put The Middleman right back into my DVD player and the world is a cozier happier place.




-Like half of NY, I have been reading my way through Stieg Larson's Lisbeth Salander books. After reading them I pass them around to whoever wants to read them next so they have been making their way around the shop causing impromptu book discussions addressing the following: Mikael Blomkvist: Big man-whore or biggest man-whore? How gross do all those cheese sandwiches sound? (What passes for a cheese sandwich from a corner store here in America is foul. I'm sure it's probably better in Sweden but my instinct is to think ewww) As you can tell we are real deep at my costume shop.

-I have been knitting like a fiend this summer and here are some teasers.


This is a sneak peak of the pattern for Sanguine Gryphon which will be released on Sept 20th I believe. I am super excited for this to come out and too see all the other patterns in the collection.




And this is a sneak peak of a pattern I am releasing through my Ravelry pattern shop on Sept 1st. I am fairly certain this will be what I wear to Rhinebeck this year. (OMG Rhinebeck is getting close. Anticipation is crazier than ever thanks to the teasing news coverage of Chelsea Clinton's wedding.)

Knitting Through a Heat Wave

The view from Madison Square Park

It has been hot hot hot this month. Thankfully it cooled down this weekend making it possible for me to sit here and spend some time in my computer room (cooled only by a fan). The only thing I can think of to do in extreme heat is knit and go to the movies. It may sound counter intuitive to play with wool when we are breaking heat records here but it is an activity that requires very little exertion so there we have it.

At the request of my mom I knit a new version of Pollen and Bubbles with a wide brim and a shorter body out of some Madelinetosh DK. I have added the instructions to the original pattern for sale through Ravelry.





I have also been working on a super secret pattern for Sanguine Gryphon. I can't tell you much about it yet, you will have to wait for fall. What I can tell you is that, OMG Gryphon's yarn is gorgeous. It's my first time working with it and certainly won't be my last. The colors are so rich. When I opened up the package of yarn at the office my coworkers all stopped dead in front of my desk to look at it, and I work in a costume shop, we get pretty stuff in there.

Now a gratuitous picture of Shake Shack, knitting (soon to be Sockhead Hat), and some Stieg Larsson.

Look mom, it's not YA!