Lick the Light Switch

Knitting For The Cousins

2012-01-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've started a tradition that every Christmas a few family members will get something hand knit. I'm lucky that I come from a family that understands the value of handmade objects and appreciates the time and effort that went into them. Usually the family member is my dad, sister or brother (my mom is a knitter so she gets yarn) but this year it my cousins' turn. Last year one of them wanted a hat but by the time I found out, I was swamped in Christmas knitting and it could not be done, so this year I made their gifts a priority. I have a lot of cousins but these three grew up nearby and we have celebrated many holidays together. The eldest is the receiver of the book boxes, the boxes full of whatever books I finished recently keeping my bookshelves manageable.

With help from the eldest cousin who I drafted as an elf, because all older siblings are elves at Christmas, I came up with these projects.

The first I am calling the Hat for the Boy Cousin. I would embarrass him if I described him in the same silly flowery language I use for the girls but I don't want to share his name so I am simply calling him Boy Cousin M. This hat I actually made ages ago, with him in mind, but it was waiting until I made things for the other two. It is made out of some buttery Karabella Aurora 8, that stuff is sooo nice to knit with.

The second hat is for Sweet Cousin M. She wanted a slouchy blue and silver or white hat. I ended up using a single ply bulky Cascade yarn (I have no idea what it is called) with my Starflower Flake pattern. Then I encrusted the starflower flakes (the white part) with size 6 Swarovski heat set transmission rhinestones. In normal human terms, those are teeny tiny, I think the smallest, crystal rhinestones you can get that have the heat set glue on the back. Transmission means they are clear, no foil on the back, with an iridescent finish. The size is so small you do not really see the rhinestones themselves from a few feet away, but you certainly see sparkle. I would say this has close to 500 rhinestones on it.

Extreme Close-up shot!

It might be one of my favorite projects. In person it just sparkles like freshly fallen snow. It would have been really difficult to gift had it fit my enormous head, luckily it was made for her much smaller head.

Finally, this is the cowl I made for my Dearest Cousin D. I decided she needed a cowl instead of a hat. I worked up a cowl variation of the Pop Blossoms Hat. I failed to get any sort of gauge or measurements from the finished product so this pattern is waiting while I knit another sample. The red was supposed to be more maroon but that was the closest I could get so it looks a bit Gryffindor. The red/maroon is Cascade Eco+ and the gold is three strands of Vanna's Glamour yarn from Lion Brand. This stuff is great for sparkly colorwork.

I was compelled to stop stalling and write this post because this week two of them were in a bad car accident. They are both fine, a little sore since seat belts save lives and leave bruises and welts doing so. I am so thankful they are ok. I talked to one of them yesterday and it was all I could do not to cry into the phone out of relief. It has not been a good winter for several of my friends so I am all too aware how lucky we are. Anyway, I was thinking about them so much I thought I would blog about them.

Epic Fall is Magic Mini Road Trip Part 2: Rhinebeck

2011-12-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

I am on vacation so I am finally getting around to posting part 2.

After our very short visit to Maine we made headed back down to NY for The New York Sheep and Wool Festival, the happiest place on earth. The only way I was going to be able to head back to NY after being in Maine is if it meant Rhinebeck. Otherwise I would have tethered myself to a dock screaming, "No, don't take me back there (NYC/real life), it is dirty and I can't breathe."

We stayed at a cute little motel in Hyde Park. When we walked up to the building at night we saw every curtain open and every room have 5+ people sitting, drinking wine, and knitting. It was charming.

My favorite part of Rhinebeck is the few minutes after I walk in the gate. So much potential awesome about to happen.

The yarn was as gorgeous as always. I had set strict guidelines that I was not to buy any wildly multicolored yarn. Every year I am seduced by a skein of yarn with 8 different colors in it that always looks better in the skein than knit. The goal was to buy solids in possible pairs for colorwork. My mom was there to make sure I varied my color palette and purchased colors besides red and teal, although looking at this picture I still managed to get a lot of red, and pink which was unplanned.

For a second year in a row I also got Jennie the Potter's Rhinebeck mug but have failed to take a picture of it. Her mugs are wonderful.

Anyway this post is picture light because I was with my mom and was having more fun just being there than taking many pictures. Months later I am still thinking about how awesome this little trip was and how much I want to go back up to Maine.

The Day Job

2011-11-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

We made some stuff for this. I guess that makes me Team Mirror, Mirror in next year's battle of the Snow Whites.

Epic Fall is Magic Mini Road Trip Part 1: Maine

2011-11-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

This October I had the pleasure of going on what I have dubbed the "Epic Fall is Magic Mini Road Trip" with my mom. Originally my mom was just going to come to town for Rhinebeck but as the summer progressed the trip planning got more complex.

I have this romantic idea of living in a small town on the coast of Maine. I'm fairly certain the movie Andre is to blame and I am not embarrassed to admit it (Tina Majorino FTW). So when my mom asked if I would like to add Maine to the travel itinerary I was pretty much elated.

We only had about 2 days to explore and experience the Rockland area. Originally we were going to take a ferry out to the island of Vinalhaven but the weather meant a very choppy ride which I didn't think my stomach could handle for an hour and a half each way so we ended up exploring the mainland instead. We had a really good lunch at the Home Kitchen Cafe, stopped at a couple cute quilting shops, found the Rock City Coffee Roasters located right on the coast (it smelled spectacular and looked out over a ton of boats), met up with extended family for a chicken pot pie dinner, and attempted to walk a bit on the Rockland Breakwater but as you can see we did not make it too terribly far, it was very cold and a bit slick.

Overall Maine was exactly what I expected in many ways, the coast was gorgeous, the gloomy weather was perfect, the towns were cute, the air was nice and salty, and it would be entirely posible to get a mocha at an independent coffee shop on the water and take a walk along the coast. That last one in important since it is pretty much the top of my list of requirements for the place I want to live after NY. What I didn't expect was how much I would like the people. When they made small talk there was substance, it was fun small talk. Everyone seems to have their own weird quirky passion. I loved how many indy stores and restaurants there were. I am really terrified about someday leaving NY and being stuck with Chili's, Olive Garden, and McDonalds as my restaurant options, but it looked like I could avoid that entirely in Maine.

Our visit was short and sweet, and was the perfect intro to a state I can definitely see myself living someday and hopefully visiting again soon.

St. Lucia Stocking Cap

2011-10-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am way way behind on the blogging. My mom and I had a magical mini-trip to Maine and Rhinebeck that I am dying to write about, but the before I left and the second I returned my life has been consumed with Christmas. That's right, Christmas. We are working an a fairly large, popular NY Christmas show at work right now, as well as a couple other smaller, but no less complicated shows which has thrown us all into chaos and overtime. Combine that with the inevitable homesickness that strikes when my mom goes back home and the brutal cold I caught last Friday and I have been able to do little when I at home besides sit in bed, knit a little bit, and watch the entire series of Parenthood on Netflix.

The bit of knitting I was able to do this past week is the real point of this post and a project I am giddy to present. Just in time for your holiday knitting I give you...

The St. Lucia Stocking Cap!

I am going to go ahead and admit that my interest and knowledge of Saint Lucia's Day came from my Kirsten* American Girl Doll. We were a hard-core American Girl family and Kirsten was my first. I think I got her the year after the dolls were introduced, back when it was owned by Pleasant Company. She had long blond braids and was Swedish like me (ok I'm only like a quarter Swedish, but I like that quarter). Every Christmas I dressed her in her St Lucia outfit. One year my mom even made me a matching nightgown and Santa gave me the matching human sized crown. That crown required many batteries for the "flames" but this hat pattern doesn't burn or burn through expensive batteries!

If you are unfamiliar with the celebration, Wikipedia breaks it down for you, or you can learn like I did and read Kirsten's Surprise. If you are actually Scandinavian and know of a really good book about the St. Lucia celebration, leave me a comment!

The hat is stranded and knit in the round. The flames are duplicate stitched and the red berries are embroidered on with a tapestry needle after the hat is knit. The yellow band at the bottom is an applied i-cord.

Yarn weights and needle requirements are listed in the pattern. Two sizes are listed, Child's Small, 18" in circumference or Child's Large, 21" in circumference. Other sizes can be achieved with larger or smaller needles or yarn. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't toying with the idea of someday knitting a doll sized one out of laceweight yarn on size 00 needles.

I wish my pictures were a little better, but I'm certain when I go home for Christmas, new ones will be taken with my mom's better camera in my homey-home, not my bohemian crafts-nest apartment. Bohemian is my nice way of saying messy. I may also borrow a friend's kid to model.

*How completely depressing and ridiculous is it that Mattel decided to retire Kirsten, Samantha, and Felicity? I am convinced that the Grinch works for American Girl.

Hocus Pocus Mittens

2011-09-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

I was not planning on revisiting my Hocus Pocus Cowl and Bag pattern to make mittens. I do have a hat pattern that has been in half design in my notebooks for a year now but mittens were never on the radar. Then I was asked on Ravelry if I had ever thought of making some matching mittens. I thought I would give it a shot, just start playing on Excel to see if the pattern came to me and it did.

So I give you, with just enough time to knit a pair before Halloween...

Hocus Pocus Mittens!

The pattern is made of mix and match patterns. There are two options for the front of the mitten. The classic version with black cats and the I'm-allergic-to-cats version that depicts a head and arm emerging from a grave, like that zombie character in the Hocus Pocus movie or countless vampires in Buffy. There are also two palm pattern choices, the good luck bats palm pattern and the "give me candy" palm pattern. There is only one thumb pattern with a surprise message "BOO!" In order to start knitting the pattern pieces you choose to use will need to be cut out and taped together.

There are two sizes included in the pattern adult and child. The adult size is knit using a sport weight yarn on size 3 needles. The child's size is knit using a light fingering weight (like Cascade Heritage) yarn on size 2 needles. Other sizes can be achieved by choosing a heavier or lighter yarn or larger or smaller needles. If you need help determining the best way to adjust the size, email me at wonderfallz (at) gmail (dot) com or message me on Ravelry.

Pop Blossom Mittens

2011-08-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

That is my street the night after all the hurricane drama. My neighborhood was located smack dab in the middle of Brooklyn and is not even in any evacuation zone. We just had torrential downpour and really scary wind that kept me up all night on Saturday but did little besides strip leaves from trees and rip apart our very old gutters. I just wish the rest of the north east had it so easy there are some really heart breaking pictures from the cute smaller towns and villages further North.

Since I was completely housebound all weekend I took the opportunity to cook a ridiculously large batch of kale chips, knit like a fiend, and watch some H2o: Just Add Water (Netflix instant video leads to embarrassing new TV habits like Australian teen shows about mermaids) and Veronica Mars. As a result of this fiendish knitting I will be releasing the Hocus Pocus Mitten pattern very very soon!! But first...

Here are the Pop Blossom Mittens!

The pattern is available by itself for $5

or as part of the Pop Blossom ebook with the matching hat pattern for $7

They are knit out of Sport, DK, or Worsted Weight yarns with instructions for how to choose the right yarn and needle to get the right size. Proportionally they are really only patterned for adult hands.

I was so happy to use some of that blue yarn I got from my first visit to Rhinebeck 4 or 5 years ago. I tend to be very precious with my Rhinebeck yarn, saving it for exactly the right thing instead of using it, knowing that I will be back the next year. My sentimentality is ridiculous sometimes and only leads to borderline hoarding.

I hope everyone reading is having a safe end of summer and looking forward to wooly weather!

Weird Day at the Beach

2011-07-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

I went to the beach yesterday and brought along probably the oddest collection of activities anyone could expect to see at the beach. In my giant sparkle bag was one Christmas cross stitch, one Hocus Pocus cross stitch, one Lantern Festival Cowl* in progress, one Great Weekend Cowl** in progress, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (I feel like starting from the beginning and other books just aren't doing it for me right now). I have a feeling that my beach activities are one of a kind and I was probably the only person on the beach with a pair of scissors. There is something about July and August that gets me in the holiday spirit.

Other weirdness...

- I had one of those surreal moments when you are listening to a musical on your ipod and suddenly life seems to be playing out said musical in front of you and everyone looks like they are in costume.

- That surreal feeling only got worse when I got on the shuttle and I am fairly certain that Boardwalk Empire's Paz De La Huerta was sitting just feet away from me going to the same beach.

* I am working on a cowl I am ridiculously excited about. It is a cowl covered in a chinese lantern pattern. I would give you a pattern release date but I never make those deadlines when I type them so... soon.

** I am also working on a pattern for a Great Weekend Cowl with bold stripes and a cute henley type placket. It will be a freebie I will also release soon.

Pop Blossoms!

2011-07-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

TGIF, oh TGIF

Boy oh boy this weekend could not come fast enough. Before I am allowed to enjoy it though, I promised myself that I would finish editing and publish my latest hat pattern. Technically I was supposed to do this last week before I was allowed to see Harry Potter but that crazy heat wave won the battle, no work was done, but movie's were seen and arctic air conditioning enjoyed.

I give you the Pop Blossoms Hat...

This hat is written for a one size fits most adults in DK or Heavy Worsted Weight, but the chart repeats are fairly short so the hat is easily customizable for smaller or larger heads.

The DK Weight hat (the read and gold example) requires:

200 yards of a background color (gold)

100 yards of a pattern color (red)

US Size 4 16" or 24" circular needle and 4 or 5 DP needles for decreasing.

The Heavy Worsted Weight hat (the blue and red example) requires:

100 yards of a background color (blue)

100 yards of a pattern color (red)

US Size 7 16" or 24" circular needle and 4 or 5 DP needles for decreasing.

Both hats require a tapestry needle.

Optional Pom Poms require extra materials found on my tutorial.

Both measure 18 inches in circumference give or take a few eighths of an inch (measurement taken with hat lying flat. The red and gold hat fits my 24" monster head just fine but the blue and red hat is a bit tight. Different yarns just stretch differently so keep that in mind when choosing yarns and adjust pattern repeats accordingly.

Random Thoughts about the Pop Blossoms Hat.

- The flowers remind me of Takashi Murakami's work but without the faces.

- I branched out and took two yarns that I thought were yuck but were in my stash for some reason, put them together, and ended up loving the result. I am speaking of the red and gold.

- No matter how much I think about making sure the row jog is in the back I inevitable will take all my pictures with it in the front and then lose my camera before being able to take replacement pictures.

-I am completely inconsistent with my spelling of "bobble" and realized that I sometimes write in "bauble" and will switch back and forth using both in the same pattern. I think I caught them all in this pattern, but if you see otherwise feel free to let me know.

-Frankly, sometimes I am just completely inconsistent in my use of the English language.

Seeking Test Knitters:

I am working on a Pop Blossom Mitten pattern to go with the hat. I am in need of some test knitters. If the picture below interests you and you would like to test knit the mitten pattern for me, please let me know via Ravelry message or email me at wonderfallz(at)gmail(dot)com. I need people to test knit the pattern in a sport weight for a small adult mitten and a worsted weight for a large adult mitten. As a thank you I would send you one of my other patterns that I sell through my Ravelry store. Just a heads up the pattern is still in a rough stage, no gauge or size info included yet, but the chart is pretty much finished. I would like to hear back about size and fit by August 19th. Both mittens need not be finished by this date, just one.

I Heart Ceramic Lamps

2011-07-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me a surprise last night.

Isn't he awesome? Yes, I have decided it is a he, although I have yet to figure out a suitable name. I've toyed with Pippin, W1nst0n (because I'm rereading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother for the 50th time) and Hedwig, but none of those seem right, and I can't keep naming every owl object ever Hedwig, it is wildy uncreative to keep cribbing from Harry potter. I am working on a cross stitch of my Hocus Pocus pattern that I think will look perfect framed above him on the wall.

SALE! Knitting on the Beach SALE!

2011-06-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

After a recent glowing NY Times article on Rockaway Beach I decided to check it out. Too often getting to other parts of Brooklyn from my neighborhood required going into the city and doubling back. Rockaway Beach is just a straight shot out to the beach, no trip into Manhattan required. The trains run on a weekend schedule which means about 45 minutes of standing on a platform waiting and 20 minutes of actual train riding but it is totally worth it. The beach is really clean especially for a NY beach. People are relaxed and not aggressive like they tend to be in Coney Island. This could be because this has long been a surfing spot. The food vendors, who are all new this year, are fantastic. As of now there is plenty of room on the beach, there are plenty of benches on the boardwalk and plenty of picnic tables around the vendors.

I have now spent two Saturday's hanging out on this beach and have found that there is no better place to sit and knit. The lighting is perfect, the waves make a wonderful sleepy soundtrack and best of all, it is never too humid. Summers are no longer my least favorite season in NY, I only wish I had discovered this years ago I could have saved myself several seasons of sticky agony. In honor of my new found love on NY summers, knitting on the beach and to celebrate the 4th of July I am having a small sale. Now through July 5th you can use the coupon code "BEACH" and receive $1 off any of the following patterns.

Warning, you can use this coupon code on as many of the patterns as you want but for it to be effective you have to purchase them one at a time. If you buy two or more patterns at a time it only takes $1 off the whole purchase.

If you have any problems with the promo code email me at Wonderfallz@gmail.com

The Daily Show loves Handknit Cylons.

2011-06-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Last night I was curling up in bed, watching The Daily Show as usual, and this segment came on:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

You're Welcome - Hacker Threat

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

Umm Hold on just one second, did I just see what I think I saw?

Yes, Yes I did. That was a photoshopped picture of either my hat or someone who used my pattern to knit the hat. Regardless, I am in someway or another responsible or partly responsible for the hat on John Hodgman's fake Etsy store Handknit Steampunk Cylons.

Rhode Island, I kind of love you

2011-06-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

During my mini-vaca a few weeks ago for my little sister's graduation, my family and I took a quick day trip to Rhode Island. The point of the trip was threefold:

1- To stop by the Cocktail Couture exhibit at the RISD Museum. The rest of my family are all foodies with an appreciation for good cocktails. I am the black sheep in that I barely drink and have no desire to watch Top Chef. But museum-going is usually fun regardless of the reason. I am usually drawn to the more decorative things, tapestries, stained glass, anything that uses repetitive patterns, but this time my favorite thing in the whole museum was this piece:

For some reason this drawing cracks me up. I think it's just the idea of some super muscular guy just sitting and sketching in the nude. Unfortunately I failed to write down who the artist was who sketched this in the first place, or what it is called.

2- The second reason for our trip to Rhode Island was to stop and get a Wimpy Skippy at Caserta's. These things are spinach pie on crack.

3- The third reason was to go to the beach in Galilee, Narragansett. The beach we went to is located directly behind this famous place called George's. My mom remembers getting fried clams at the to-go window and hanging out on the beach with family when I was about 1 year old. This part of the trip was hands down my favorite. The beach, while small, was gorgeous. the sand had kind of a grey look and it sparkled like crazy due to all the shell fish in the area. The sky was a bit grey and all the buildings, fences or anything made of wood had that gorgeous grey sea exposed look to them. The water was cold but felt sooo good after I got used to it. I could have camped out on that beach for the whole summer.

Yes, I am wearing jeans and a leather jacket on the beach but in my defense it was colder out there and once I got used to temp, the pants were rolled up and the jacket came off.

This trip was the second time I have been to Rhode Island when I was old enough to actually remember anything. The first time was 7 months after I moved to NY. I had just lived through my first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from my family and was dealing with working retail on the upper east side (aka HELL) 7 days a week and still barely being able to afford living in NY. I was an emotional mess, crying almost every single day for that first 6 months of being here. My mom and sister were touring schools and I met up with them in Rhode Island. I took a 4 hour bus that was 3 hours late taking off. I was exhausted when I finally stepped off the bus at 11pm and saw my mom. She hugged me and asked if I wanted to go get a Mocha (there was a Starbucks open across the street). This pretty much solidified a happy place for Rhode Island in my heart.

I'll Miss You Cute Pink Camera :(

2011-06-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

There has been something about family events this year, that has been detrimental to my digital cameras. On my way back from my trip home at Christmas I cracked the screen on my little pink Sony camera. I replaced it with a cute hot pink Canon in time to get some awesome shots of a massive NY snowfall. It has been serving me well right up until my trip to my sister's graduation. I know for sure I had it with me through the final event, I know because I made a ruckus dropping it (whyIcan'thavenicethings), but somewhere between that event and walking into my apartment that camera disappeared. So to the person who found my camera if I dropped it, or has my camera because they stole it, I hope you enjoy the hundreds of pictures of knitwear, usually a dozen or so shots that look exactly the same. I hope you really enjoy the awkward shots of me blurred or with a weird expression on my face while I try to get in place before the timer goes off while wearing said knitwear.

To my dear little pink camera, you will be missed...

On a happier note, smart phones with fairly decent cameras, how great are they?

Vincent Van Slouch

2011-06-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

Finally, 6 months after it was knit, I am ready to publish the hat pattern I developed for my dad's Christmas gift (that's him modeling it on the track near my home-home). I got all sidetracked with a bunch of other projects, actually sitting and writing a pattern just never seemed to happen. That pesky day job didn't really help with that either. Right now we are immersed in a highly stylized, period, fairy tale movie. We don't do a lot of movies, we mostly stick to Broadway shows, tours, cruises and a few ice skaters but every so often a movie will need some period costumes that can't be found in stores and can't be rented. Normally I stay above the fray since I mostly manage and deal with paperwork. I tend not to do the hand work because sometimes doing what you love as your job turns it into something you don't love so much anymore. Anyway, this project was all hands on deck so I have been staying late and working weekends stitching fancy trim to fancy fabrics and trashing my poor fingers in the process. It has been fun to see this crazy-ness all come together and the costumes look pretty darn incredible. When advertising starts I will post links to what movie it is, and I can guarantee you won't want to miss it because the spectacle alone will be worth the price of the ticket.

Back to the knitting stuff, the whole point of this post, here is the Vincent Van Slouch hat. Last Christmas my dad asked for a slouchy hat. His request specifically, was for a deep blue hat with flashes of color like Van Gogh's Starry Night. My first thought was, geez dad you couldn't have chosen something a little less intimidating as inspiration? Finally I embraced the challenge and after some fun with graph paper I came up with this swirly pattern. The short color stretches are indicative of impressionist brush strokes. The different colored swirls nestle into each other, but each row is only ever worked with two colors, making the pattern look more complicated than it really is.

This hat is solidly unisex. The look can change dramatically depending on the colors are yarn used. The swirl colors use little yarn and are a good way to use up smaller leftover balls of yarn.

The pattern includes instructions for fingering and sport weight versions of the hat. The chart repeats are quite narrow so the pattern can be easily altered to fit smaller or larger heads or heavier weight yarns.

Graduation, again.

2011-05-23T11:57:00.001-07:00

My sister is graduating again this year, this time with a Masters in Public Health. New Haven is gross and rainy but that's ok when the buildings are so stunning on the inside. Congratulations B!

More on that Santa Hat

2011-05-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

So I posted before about the opportunity I had last fall to pattern and knit Santa's casual hat for the musical Elf. I had waited, hoping that some of the publicity pics would catch the body of the hat so I could post it but I had no such luck. I have since talked to the show's costume designer and got the ok from him to post my progress pics. They are not very high quality, they were taken quickly in the shop under florescent light, but they do give you some idea of what Santa's hat looked like.

So there is a dose of Christmas in May.

Crop Circles at the Community Garden

2011-04-06T09:45:00.001-07:00

Have you ever tried to grow a garden in a backyard open to the Rocky Mountain foothills? It is next to impossible to harvest anything with the massive herds of deer that wander the neighborhood consuming everything that is remotely edible. It is because of this that my parents joined the community garden. Just down the street in a nice fenced in area they are able to grow fruits and veggies to the point where they can be harvested for human consumption. Now, my dad and I share the same oddball sense of humor. It was he who wanted to plant the corn in a circle in the middle of their plot. Forget the normal rectangular rows of plants, there is nothing fun about that. With a circle, other gardeners are left wondering "What the heck is going on over there?" and the aliens thinking "That must be the signal we are looking for."

So in honor of my dad's circular crop of corn I have dubbed this pattern:

Crop Circles at the Community Garden

*The peace sweater came from Sundance a while back.

My sister and my brother's girlfriend were on the receiving ends of the sample knits this Christmas. The blue and gold pattern is knit in lightweight fingering yarn. The gold is a wool skein I inherited from my grandmother's stash and the blue is some laceweight merino from Elann held triple. This version was knit on US Size 1 24" circular needles.

The grey and cream is knit using Lion Brand's newish Merino Cashmere Superwash. This yarn is really lovely to work with, super soft and bouncy. This version was knit on US Size 5 24" circular needles. Note: this yarn calls for a much larger needle on it's label but I tend to always choose needles smaller than recommended for a cleaner, tighter looking knit, and I have noticed that Lion Brand's yarns are always lighter than the gauges they claim to be.

The Happy and The Sad

2011-03-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

I'll start with the sad. This weekend the St Francis of Assisi statue in the garden at my church, my parent's church really, back home in Colorado was stolen. I like this statue. He modeled my hat for me this winter when my mom and I were playing crafty photo shoot at the church. Doesn't he look awesome?

He was wearing the red bow when we got there. Apparently we were not the first to think he needed some accessories. Anyway, if you are in or near Colorado Springs and you see this guy chillin in someone's yard or truck on the way to metal recycling or who knows where, call the cops because he doesn't belong there.

Now the happy. It's Girl Scout Cookie delivery day at the shop today!

Woohoo Thin Mints!!! It's the little things that really make a day awesome.

Random Thoughts and Things About Me

2011-02-25T11:27:00.001-08:00

1) My aunt posted this link on my facebook wall yesterday:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/02/knit-cylon-centurion-hat
Which is awesome, because Tor.com is awesome.
-Silly fact about me: Every time a pattern of mine shows up somewhere new online, I actually turn red (I would say blush but I hate that word). I will be sitting at my computer completely alone and I turn bright red. Then of course the entire office will walk by and a few famous people will come in for fittings.
-My brother's name is Tore and he is now requesting a hat so it can be featured on Tore and Tor.com. Hysterical, my brother.

2) I guess I am going to have to devote some time to hunting down the notes and partial pattern to the Storm Trooper Hat, quit the slacking and write it up.

3) I have such grand plans about pattern making, blogging, and building a website to showcase said patterns but then:
- Work happens.
- My apartment needs to be cleaned.
- I am watching a Castle/Firefly/Bones marathon.
- I am glued to the news watching the real life drama that is Al Jazeera's coverage of Tunesia, Egypt, Libya, and basically all of Northern Africa and the Middle East.
- The chair in front of my computer is uncomfortable.
- There was a gas leak in the basement so the gas had to be shut off for 3 days leaving me without hot water or heat so I feel really grimy and anywhere not immediately in front of the space heater is about 60 degrees. Then just when I have been told it's been fixed, I smell a big whiff of natural gas, go outside and welcome the 3 firetrucks worth of firefighters that the neighbors called, into my apartment to find out that the smell may be coming from someone else's house. This after they break down my landlords door. The hazards of living in a brownstone that is over 100 years old.

4) I am completely obsessed with the soundtrack to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. I failed to make it to the show before it closed and it breaks my heart. The music is so good.

5) After 4 years of swearing I would never go see Mamma Mia because I was sad that it has stayed open for a million years while other great shows close down, I was offered tickets and gave in. Now I understand why it is so popular. The show has been running forever but the cast is still bursting with energy. I had a ridiculous amount of fun. I should have known, I love the movie.

Well that is all for know, I still have many piles of papers to go through in my attempt to find my notes for the Storm Trooper Hat. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend without any firemen or gas leaks.

I Like My Books Signed

2011-02-10T16:52:00.000-08:00

What is better than owning these books?

Having them signed and personalized to me.

Recently I attended the first night of Penguin's "Breathless Book Tour" at Books of Wonder. While all of the books look awesome and are on my radar, the real reason I went was to meet Kirsten Miller, author of Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb, and her latest The Eternal Ones. The female characters she writes are bad ass on Buffy and Veronica Mars levels. My favorite thing about her books are the team of "Irregulars", (what the girls of Kiki Strike call themselves). While so many YA books spend a ridiculous amount of time describing how pretty their girl characters are without disclosing much else except maybe an ability to fight, Kirsten Miller has created a completely diverse and well defined cast of characters who are into things like science, technology, mechanics, history and culture. These girls are strong in every sense of the word and wicked smart to top it off.

A few years ago I requested that I choose my teenage cousin's Christmas book and gave her the first Kiki Strike. She loved it as much as I did. I have been helping choose her books since. About 2 years ago she told me she loved all the books I chose for her. This made me so happy that I have been sending her my book windfall since. Every few months I send her a box of whatever books I recently finished. This keeps my bookshelves from tipping over and quells panic attacks over the thought of eventually having to move all those books. Of course I also feel like a loser when she reads in a weekend what took me months but I take comfort in knowing that the subway is a distracting place to read. The only reason you are not seeing a signed copy of The Eternal Ones in the pictures is because I purchased it that day it came out, read it and sent it to her.

Now that I've gushed about that for a while I am going to gush about Books of Wonder. I love this store. It is across the street from The City Bakery so I can pick up the city's best mocha and peruse the shelves of this independent kid's bookstore. They frequently have panels and signing's with really great YA authors. The employees are super nice and fun to talk to. If you go in there without the long wish list that I have, they have great recommendations. There is a cupcake shop attached to the bookstore with icing so bright it stains your mouth for hours. The best part is the freebie bookmarks at the register.

One last thing... Check out the title of the book I picked up while there for he signing. Haha! Thank you Bookshelves of Doom for that recommendation!

Starflower Flake

2011-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Have you ever spent time looking at the images gathered from the Hubble Telescope? I have to admit, I am a bit of a nerd for the Hubble website. One day after spending some time ogling some star pictures I thought I would attempt to capture the effect as best I could in knit form. With the aid of a recent sparkly pen buying binge at Kinokuniya I worked out this pattern back in November. It was then put on hold while Christmas was made. Finally, with Christmas finished, box sets of Vicar of Dibley to be watched, and an extra week off thanks to cancelled flights, I was able to knit this up from the comfort of my parents house.

The result looks a bit like stars, it also looks a bit like flowers and a bit like snowflakes.

I have a big head so even though the pattern calls for sport weight I went with some DK Madelintosh knit on smaller needles. The colorway is called Baltic and I am not sure there could be a prettier teal/blue yarn. This one is just stunning. It is matched with a newer Karabella Yarn, Super Platinum that has a metallic sheen. The Super Platinum is held double. This example was knit by working each chart once. It makes a shorter hat with just a slight slouch. This is my absolute favorite hat shape. I would not be surprised if I end up making a dozen more patterns in exactly this shape simply because I like wearing them.

This example was knit using Classic Alpaca from Alpaca Yarn Co. in a light blue/grey and some gorgeous Ella Rae Lace Merino held double in colorway 101, a great pink, violet, black, peach skein. This hat was made working the middle chart (Chart B) 3 times to make it nice and long like a stockingcap.

To purchase the pattern, you can do so through Ravelry or by clicking here:

This pattern is easily adjustable by changing yarns, adding or deleting chart repeats around, or adding chart repeats to the length. I am toying with the idea of making on of those great long stocking caps that are both hat and scarf in one but repeating Chart B until the hat is nice and long. Feel free to play and adjust the pattern to fit your needs.

Pom Poms!!

2011-01-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am just a bit obsessed with making pom poms this year. There is something wonderful about wearing a slightly slouchy hat with pom poms dangling off the back that bounce when you walk. Because I love pom poms so much, I thought I would post a little pom pom tutorial. It is a tad picture heavy so rather than post it all here, I have posted it as a flickr set.

POM POM TUTORIAL

I May Never Get Back to NY at This Rate!!!

2010-12-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

On Monday my flight was cancelled because NY was blizzarding. Today my rescheduled flight was cancelled because CO is blizzarding. I am not sure I will ever make it back to NY at this rate. Anyway, because I am still on vacation and being silly, here are some pics to illustrate my feelings about the weather messing with my plans. Yes, those are my Christmas pajama bottoms.

All this fell in 2 hours.

Merry Christmas, better late than never

2010-12-27T15:02:00.000-08:00

Here I am with an extra few days to my vacation thanks to the blizzard that hit NY canceling all flights for a bit. On the one hand, I really need to get back to work because of rent and what not, but on the other I am sooooo happy so spend just a few more days in the happy home-home bubble with my family.

The air in CO could not be better for me right now. This fall I have been suffering from horrible asthma, thank you crappy NY air. The oxygen in CO may be thin, but the lack of pollution is positively magical. Just check out what the trees and sky looked like a couple days ago.

In NY I have an amazing view from my train stop every evening of the NY skyline. It always changes, it is always gorgeous. In CO I've got the sky and the mountains. This is a picture of the colors of the sky on our early morning Christmas Eve run to the German bakery. (no worries, that is steam, not smoke in the foreground)

Although you wouldn't know it by my blog activity I have been a busy busy knitter this fall. I had the amazing opportunity to pattern and knit a hat for Santa's casual look in Elf the Musical on Broadway. There were also a couple cuffs and leg warmers, but the hat was the big deal, to me at least. Unfortunately the knit part of the hat cannot be seen in any of the publicity pictures. You can imagine a cute design with reindeer and stars if you want the full effect. The picture is taken from the playbill.com taken by Joan Marcus

I have also been working on two new designs, that were also Christmas gifts. I have to write up the patterns still but they should be out soon. This is a preview of one of the patterns in two different styles.

Finally here is a CO deer who is far to willing to come near humans, saying Hello.

NY Sheep and Wool 2010!

2010-10-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked my favorite time of year, that wonderful peak fall weekend at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, the NY Sheep and Wool Festival affectionately known as RHINEBECK!!!!!!!!! This was my 4th year and it never ceases to be my favorite place on the planet. I headed up with Leila and Nana. Since Leila now lives upstate we drove from her place and skipped the expense of the hotel. Luckily these two know that I am a bit of a loner, I like to run around completely on my own at a breakneck speed catching everything twice. I am also a major magpie, if it sparkles or it's really really bright, I must look at it. I have learned though, that there are a few booths, well one, that has both those things (sparkly and bright) but is seriously expensive so I have trained myself to skip it. Judging from what L and N purchased and the pictures everyone in the Rhinebeck Ravelry group are posting, my color choices seem to be on a different planet so wandering by myself seems to be best.

So this is the stage the trees were at. This is half the reason NY Sheep and Wool is so awesome, seasonal timing. I can revel in the fall colors I dreamed about in CO where the fall colors are yellow and brown. This is what Fall is supposed to look like.

The very best part of Rhinebeck this year happened at the Saguine Gryphon booth. They were a last minute addition to the vendor list after someone else backed out. So last minute that they were not in the guide and their booth was in the farthest back corner it could possibly be in. None of this stopped it from having a line and excitement rivaling Socks That Rock, maybe even more so which is a massive accomplishment. I wanted to introduce myself as the Gotham Skies girl but I could not get within 10 feet of Gryphon and Sarah (manning the register dressed in full steam punk regalia). I did manage to squeeze in and get this shot of my socks, on display with the rest of the steampunk collection.

I stopped by every 2 hours or so to see if it looked calm enough to introduce myself and did not get a chance till 4:30 in the afternoon when Gryphon has stepped away from the booth for a breather. Now, here is when the moment happens to make my day. After introducing myself I am finally able to reach the yarn, pick out two skeins and get in line. Then I notice the woman in front of me is buying my pattern!!! We all get to the register, she is told that the designer is standing behind her and asks me to sign the pattern for her! Unfortunately I was not expecting that and after a long day of fiber overload I could not think of a single note to write so I just signed my name. Considering I feel stressed out thinking of what to say when other people are signing books for me, it is not really a surprise that I could not think of a note to write when signing a pattern for someone else. But to the person who made Rhinebeck really special for me this year I thank you!

Anyway, here is a pic of the haul in all it's day-glow glory!

From the top left corner:
Top Row: The Saguine Gryphon, Socks That Rock, Creatively Dyed
Middle Row: I can't remember the name of the farm but gosh that purple and gold is pretty!, under that is Loop's sparkly alpaca roving tan with light purpley sparkle, to the right is Fiber Optic Yarns, Brooks Farm
Bottom: The Alpaca guy (not the companies name but what I know him as.

Next year I'm hoping I will be attending with my mom.

OMG Chilies

2010-09-25T18:45:00.001-07:00

NY can cater to almost any food craving. Sadly if falls woefully short in one very important, vital to my existence, area. Green Chili. When you have spent summers in Santa Fe with it's green chili cheeseburgers, green chili cheese bread, green chili breakfast burritos, green chili on and in anything it can possibly be in, it is difficult to just give up on the habit. A couple weeks ago a there was a NY Times article about going to great lengths to bring home regional food. One guy in DC talked about using his mother as a green chili mule, freezing them in little ziplocs and bringing them on the plain. Up until this year that has been my preferred method of smuggling the green chilies to NY. This year, I'm going bigger.

Yes, I hauled that 25+ pound bag of roasted green chilies all over the Jack Daniels Chili festival (the website may say Loaf and Jug instead of Jack Daniels but that is way less cool). These puppies are going in a styrofoam bog and being overnight to their new happy home in NYC.

The green chili shortbread I picked up probably won't make it past the airplane ride, they are a little addictive.

Gotham Skies

2010-09-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am blogging from my home-home in Colorado today. My flight was eventful and included being delayed because of Air Force One, a massive storm, and really bad turbulence. The important thing though is that I am home and not in NY. Yay for a much needed break.

Besides coming home and the fall tv season premieres, this week marks the fall pattern release from The Sanguine Gryphon. A steampunk themed collection which includes a sock pattern I designed!!

I give you Gotham Skies!

Pictures are from The Sanguine Gryphon taken by photographer Kris Northrup.

The collection is here.

My pattern is here.

I want to thank The Sanguine Gryphon for including my pattern, and I would like to thank Stephannie for editing and teaching me quit a bit while doing so.

Mockingjay: or What I Did This Week

2010-09-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

I have been crazy excited this summer knowing that Mockingjay was going to be released in August. In June I researched release parties, July I contemplated whether or not I would go, and then in August I screwed up the date and found out it was coming out a week earlier than I expected and I was still in the middle of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. So all June and July plans were scrapped and I slammed through Hornet's Nest, which frankly would have happened anyway that story was so intense. Then I needed to read the entire Hunger Games series through in order to get Sweden out of my head and Panem in (if if sounds like I am writing gibberish it means you have some reading to do).

So This is what my last week has looked like:

No

Wait,

Something is missing...

Oh yeah...

Yeah, I don't think I have ever cried so much at a book series, not even Harry Potter. I was such a mess for the last half of Mockingjay that I woke up the next morning with my head feeling like it was underwater from a cold. Despite my near hysterical sobbing I must say, it was good.

Hocus Pocus!

2010-09-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to present to you my newest pattern(s) Hocus Pocus: A Halloween Cowl and Bag! This design started by accident. I was attempting to chart the pattern of a sweater seen in a picture from one of our historical fashion books at work and rather than look like the very swedish design in the picture it started looking like an owl. I decided to just roll with it and what developed was this Halloween pattern.

My favorite thing about August is you can start ignoring the fact that it is still summer and begin to collect the halloween magazines and catalogues that seem to come earlier and earlier every year. This year rather than just read the Halloween Martha Stewart Special, I put my hands to work creating a little Halloween so I could share it with all of you.

Purchase pattern here:

$7.00 USD
The E-book includes both the pattern for the cowl and the Trick or Treat Bag. The cowl is fairly quick and easy, the bag requires a bit of finishing work including felting and stitching, so give yourself plenty of time to finish before Halloween.

My favorite thing about October besides Halloween (and my birthday, 30, there is no way I am that old!) is Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival! I know for sure I am bringing this bag so keep an eye out for it. My mom had suggested filling it with candy to hand out but I told her that I plan on stuffing it with yarn. Besides, unless you handing out Artichokes French or Maple Cotton Candy, the Rhinebeck crowd probably won't be interested. Speaking of Rhinebeck, Leila and I went to the Dutchess County Fair last weekend. I will post the pics of chickens with hats, and carnival games soon.

Strands: A Cowl

2010-08-19T12:19:00.001-07:00

So here is a quick and easy cowl I worked up over this summer. I am calling it Strands. The columns of circles remind me of strands of beads.

The pattern is very quick and easy. The product is very cozy.

The ruffle at the bottom flares out around your neck providing excellent coverage preventing any wind, snow, or rain from sneaking it's way in under the collar of your coat and surprising you. I know it is a bit silly to even talk about snow in the muggy August heat but hey, a girl can dream about winter.

To purchase the pattern go here:

$4.00 USD

Notes On The Summer So Far...

2010-07-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

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!

Bones X Stitch

2010-05-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

My life is littered with random items from my time working at Pier One. I never intended on buying that much stuff when I worked there but when your job is to try and sell it to others, you end up selling it to yourself subconcsiosly. I cannot even tell you how many glasses or dishes ended up going to goodwill because I was never going to have those charming dinner parties I thought of having when I convinced myself to buy them.

Anyway, I have a ton of picture frames thanks to this compulsive shopping habit. I recently just finished this project that has been half done for roughly a year. Inspired by Day of the Dead stuff I made these cute little skeleton's for this Pier One frame.

For the free PDF of the skeleton patterns go here.

Graduation at Hogwarts, Clinton, and a Cold

2010-05-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I had the opportunity to get the heck out of New York and attend my little sister's graduation from Yale. I decided I would document this with a bullet point blog entry.
-Yale looks like Hogwarts. It may be a juvenile observation, but it really does. Throw in some professors and deans wearing funny robes and hats carrying ornate, old fashioned flags and props and it really does feel like your at that new Harry Potter amusement park.
-I got to see President Bill Clinton speak which was just incredible. Wicked smart that 42nd.
-I saw Aretha Franklin get an honorary degree.
-I saw the Secretary of Energy get an honorary degree.
-I failed to use my NY honed celebrity spotting skills on any of the celebrities who attended which makes me a little sad. I'm usually really good at that but I missed both Denzel Washington and Steven Spielberg who were both apparently there.
-No matter what SPF sunblock I use it seems to be an inevitability that I will get sunburned at graduation, thankfully though it was not a repeat of the Santa Fe lobster red burn of 04.
-After having suffered from really bad allergies all year, I was finally feeling a little better up until Saturday morning when I was getting on the New Haven bound Metro North when I came down with a cold.
-I had trouble regulating my voice since I could barely hear so there is a good chance that I spent a weekend yelling at my sister's friend's families and misinterpreting everything they said. Actually this is not really new since I am partially deaf, I only ever hear half of what people say anyway. Have you ever played that kid game, telephone, with a partially deaf person? The results are way more interesting when you do.
-Every road in Wallingford CT is named either Barnes or Main, or so it seems when you have no sense of direction and are driving around trying to find the super cute downtown area.
-Despite what I hoped, people will practically sit in your lap on a crowded Metro North train despite coughing up a storm and blowing through a box of kleenex.
-Those people are also the ones desperately trying to open novelty size screw top bottles of champagne to mix with their orange juice at 8:00AM on a Tuesday.

And on a completely unrelated note... As of last Friday I have been in NY for 5 years. I remember last year when I told myself, I should really try and be getting out of hear by 5. Yeah, that didn't happen so much.

Well I think that just about sums up my weekend. Happy Graduation season everyone.

See what I mean by Hogwarts? Either that or imagining Lyra Belacqua running around from roof to roof.

Industrial Skies

2010-05-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as my foray into steampunk. I've been digging the whole steampunk think for a while, I daresay since Back to the Future 3 when Doc comes back in that time traveling train. I can't really pull off the look though, it is awfully fussy for my roll out of bed and put on a T-shirt way of life. That does not mean that I don't cruise Etsy for all it's steampunk jewelry glory and love the artwork on various dystopian books. It was a steampunk theme week at book blog, The Book Smugglers that inspired me and after spending some time reading reviews and amazon wish-listing anything with a pretty cover, I decided to take that inspiration to graph paper and try to translate it to knitting. The result is this cowl I am calling Industrial Skies.

This cowl is knit on Size 4 needles with sport weight yarn. It requires about 250 yards of each color.

Interesting story about the antique gold colored yarn. I was down in Soho two days before leaving for Christmas and the H & M was having a one day 75% off sale on their scarves. The selection was boring but the yarn was awesome so I purchased a bunch of things for about $2.00 a piece and ripped them all out. That is where the gold yarn came from. It is equivalent to most shiny rayon tape novelty yarns like Karabella Glimmer. The gray yarn I used is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport.

After taking a few pics at home against the white wall (the only place in my apartment that gets anywhere near enough sunlight), I didn't think it was the right atmosphere. So I enlisted J at work to grab "something like a blowtorch" and some goggles and meet me on the fire escape.

To purchase the pattern, Industrial Skies, follow this link:

Pollen and Bubbles

2010-04-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

Spring.
I love it and I hate it. I love putting away winter coats and getting by with just a hoodie. I love that I actually see the sun at some point before and after work. I love that the Union Square green market starts to expand, and I love walking around for hours on the weekend getting veggies and bread, hitting up The Strand, and drinking Boba Tea. Unfortunately my hate overshadows all of these wonderful things because what I hate is pollen. My arch nemesis, the thief that robs my lungs of air and attacks my senses.

This year I am attempting something new. I have made an offering to the pollen gods. I designed a new hat and named it after the invisible beast that comes from the flowers and trees, in hopes that they will ease up on me and let me enjoy the outdoors.

Here is the hat I am calling Pollen and Bubbles. The pattern will be my first for sale on Ravelry. You can purchase it there or follow this link:

Luckily it was cool enough this weekend to put on my snow coat for a picture and not feel like my face was melting off.

Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl Pattern!

2010-04-13T07:14:00.001-07:00

Months ago after knitting up the Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl for the BSG Fleet Power Battle on Ravelry, which I have been sadly neglecting this new year, I thought what the heck I will just whip up the pattern since it was so easy to make!

HA!

The concept is super easy, writing out step by step instructions was a whole other matter. I just don't think that way. I can trace this problem back to Junior High where I would fail to write out all my "work" to math problems. Then skip ahead to college and my costume construction class when we were asked what we thought the next step was and I would raise my hand and give the 10th step ahead. Or just look at the blank or confused faces of my friends and coworkers when I have started talking about something seemingly unrelated to our conversation because I failed to communicate what thought process led me to connect the two topics. I tend to assume everyone's brain follows the same problem solving path mine does so I skip stuff in the middle. Then when I try to explain the stuff in the middle it seems overwhelmingly complicated.

Anyway, I got a message the other day asking about the pattern and since it was mostly written out, just sitting as an unpublished post in my blogger account, I thought I would dust it off, attempt to edit it and just publish it. So here is the link. I recommend reading it the entire way through before starting to see if you understand what I am describing. There is also a quick paragraph at the end summing up what I had written up if you are more of a big picture, figure out the details on your own kind of knitter like I am. Let me know if you find any errors or any typos.

Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl Pattern

My Mom Makes NY Shiny

2010-04-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago my mom came to visit me in NY. It was short visit planned to coincide with my little sister's visit to the UN for the Commission on the Status of Women. Yes you read that right, my little sister was participating in an event at the UN!!

This weekend with my mom was a very welcome visit. NY has not been keeping me very happy lately and I'm not sure how much longer I will stay here. NY offers so much, but if you don't like your everyday routine, then no amount of exploring Chinatown or really, really good hot chocolate is going to make you feel much better. Since a change is still a long ways off, taking a break from that crappy routine and running around the city with my mom made NY feel all shiny again if only for a weekend... and maybe a few weeks after when I make a good dinner with stuff she got me from Zabars or use the cute tea towels she got me from Fish's Eddy.

The day she was flying was the most stressful travel day I have had since the year my flight home for Christmas was cancelled and my sister and I headed to my apartment with heavy hearts only to be greeted by a mouse. My mom's flight was cancelled, rebooked, rerouted, and delayed. I sat watching this on 3 different websites, since no airlines or airport I have encountered, so far, manages to have a completely informative and comprehensive website on it's own, while the minutes crawled by and the weather got progressively worse by the second.

Finally when I got the word that she was on her way, I picked up dumplings and made my way home in some really god awful slush. I got a call while I was on my elevated subway while I was halfway across the Williamsburg Bridge from my landlord telling me that the ceiling was leaking in my apartment so bad it was leaking in the floor below.

stupid ceiling

I managed to keep my cool on the subway, find out that the ceiling was leaking in not just the same old place but three places around the guest sofa bed, ruining several paper projects and soaking a embroidered quilt in progress, and clear off the stairs of snow/slush before my mom's cab pulled up. Oh, and I also fielded calls asking for directions because I am just going to say it, most yellow cab drivers SUCK when it comes to Brooklyn, not all but most and it make me really angry.

After clearing out everyone who showed up and could not do anything till it was dry outside, My mom and I hunkered down for a dumpling dinner and the Olympics. We were cheering on Rachel Flatt who is apparently a neighbor back home and goes to my high school.

The rest of the weekend we hiked all over the city. Sometimes in shin deep snow, sometimes through shin deep puddles, from the Upper West Side to Wall Street. We hit up Zabars, Gray Lines Linen, Veselka, Fishs Eddy, The Strand, Ikea, and City Bakery to name a few.

Macy's in the Snow

My snowy neighborhood

My mom joked that she brought the magic subway luck with her because we never waited more than a minute for the right subway, an anomaly in NY in this day and age of outrageous subway route cuts and fare hikes. That was not the only luck she brought, for some reason we were given complimentary cookies at Rice in Dumbo and City Bakery. If you've ever had a chocolate chip cookie from City Bakery, or an ice cream cookie sandwich from Rice, you know this is a real treat. I could not be more thankful to these two places for making my mom feel so welcome!

The weekend felt too short but it was really fun. Here are just a few more pictures to give you a feel for our very snowy weekend.

Grand Central at Dusk

Ghandi in a Snowy Union Square

Hipster Snowmen in Union Square

Seeing the Empire Double

Lady Liberty from the Ikea WaterTaxi

The View from Pier 11

The Library Lion Disapproves of Your Shenanigans

Inspiration from Florida

2010-03-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago I went to Florida for my grandmother's memorial service. Although it was a sad reason to be traveling, it was really lovely to see my dad and hang out with a few relatives I rarely see. I had not spent much time in Florida before except for a trip when I was about 14 for my grandparents wedding anniversary and a couple days in Disney World. What I remembered from that time was that most of Florida seemed brown up until you reach the gates of Disney World and suddenly it is a well manicured tropical wonderland. This time around I got a better look through more adult eyes and I must say, it is not the state for me. Besides being completely allergic, apparently a year round problem there since stuff is always blooming, I could not make sense of the city (Orlando) layout, it just seemed so haphazard. Anyway, while the state seemed kind of, whatever, there was one glorious aspect, and that was fresh oranges. Every morning my grandfather made fresh orange juice from the orange tree in his front yard. I normally hate orange juice. The concentrate stuff just seems bitter and sour, like I am perpetually drinking it after brushing my teeth. This fresh stuff, on the other hand, tasted like a really good summer day and soccer (Yes I grew up in suburban America). Inspired by those oranges on my grandfather's front yard, I went about making these pot holders for my grandpa.

Oranges Pot Holders

I can't really make heads or tails of written crochet instructions, and I don't have the computer program to make a nice chart like my favorite japanese books have, so I have loosely written what I did. This is by no means a comprehensive pattern. Do with it what you will, hopefully you get the general idea.

2 balls of Karabella Cable 5 in Orange, or any size 3 crochet cotton
1 ball of White size 3 crochet cotton

Two lengths of white cotton ribbon, I used White twill tape.

There are 7 wedges per slice.
The # of double stitches (in Orange) into each slice are as follows:
3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17. 19, 21, 23. 25. 27
Each Wedge is separated by two chain stitches

Then in White I crocheted 29 into the top of each slice and worked a combination of chain stitch and stitching into the ladders between the slices.

With the wrong sides facing, I single stitched, in Orange, the two sides together through the back loops.

Block, sew on loops of Ribbon

Still on the Pot holder front...
I finally got around to photographing another pair of pot holders I finished a while back. They are sort of the Old Fashioned Potholder pattern although I stopped reading that pattern after the 3rd row so I don't think the edge is the same. I added a bit of a sparkly silver edge to finish them off.

The Day I Ran Away From a Ball of Fire

2010-02-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Today I was running errands for work. I had stopped at a bank, hit up City Bakery for a Pretzel Croissant and was making my way up 6th Ave to Staples to get ink for the office printer. I stopped to watch some firemen working on what looked like a fire being put out in front of the Radio Shack. There was just lots of white smoke billowing and a few of us had slowed to watch from across the street. Suddenly it seemed like the front of Radio Shack exploded out and up in a huge fireball. I stood there like a deer in headlights watching this thing get bigger and bigger, windows exploding out of the building above, and the heat hitting my face. The mail carrier next to me started making a mad dash around the corner. She snapped me out of it and I took off after her. From the corner I watched as black smoke billowed and the sidewalk burned. I stood there for a little bit, kind of freaking out, sipping what had not sloshed out of my City Bakery mocha during my run around the corner. The block filled up with emergency vehicles so I walked over to 5th, where I will be walking from here on out, and called my mother. I do believe I succeeded in giving my parents nightmares for a month. I am hoping to avoid nightmares by watching Mamma Mia tonight.

Here is a picture that was captured by a guy apparently standing near me who was also walking back to work from City Bakery. He was on the ball with this one. Since this picture is everywhere and I have no idea who to ask permission I am just going to post it.

If you want to read more about it here are some links
NYMagazine
Gawker
Gothamist
NY Times

Since I am sure this is the first thing you are wondering... No. No one was hurt by the fire.

Mitts Here, Get Your Mitts Here

2010-01-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

As per usual I am starting the year productively. I have whipped up some pairs of my Great Weekend Mitts for my Etsy shop. You can probably see them on the sidebar but here are larger pics.

Etsy Link

These first two pairs are made from Koigu Premium Palette and paired with either the Lion Brand Silk Mohaiir or Rowan Kidsilk Haze. I must take a moment to express my annoyance with the color palette of the newer, nicer Lion Brand Yarns. What company does not include a good pink or good solid red in it's collection?

Etsy Link

This last pair is knit with Koigu Kersti. I really should not be allowed in Purl Soho... ever. This yarn was an impulse purchase because it is hard to resist those walls of Koigu. Impulse purchases at Purl Soho will drain your bank account. The buttons for this pair were purchased at Lou Lou Buttons while I was hunting for buttons to replace the ones on my cute new winter coat. More on that in a later post.

Etsy Link

God Bless long weekend that make finishing possible. It was bitter, bitter cold out this New Years Weekend and I was happy to stay inside with my knitting and hot chocolate rather than waiting on the subway platform in 40mph winds.

Mountain Girl in the City

2009-12-31T16:17:00.000-08:00

I got back two days ago from a much needed Christmas vacation in Colorado. It was a wonderful, wonderful break and I felt better than I have in months being home. This year was a tough one but one thought kept tugging at me, just an idea of what I needed. This summer I went to a free Judy Collins concert on Governor's Island. It was part of some annual folk music thing that Trinity Church sponsors. Now normally I would not identify myself as a folk music fan, but I had recognized some of her songs after googling and thought "What the hell. It's free and I have never been to Governor's Island." I also kind of love ferries, so there was that. Before the concert even started I was glad that I went. The crowd was happy and pretty hippy, which is to be expected. I recognized most of the music but it was this song I had not heard before that struck me: Mountain Girl. I was homesick a lot this year and the lyrics fit me perfectly.

"Mountain girl in the city
You've been gone far too long
Find your way back to the mountains"

So that is what I did and I have pictures that illustrate this perfectly :)

My "home-home" is in the foothills. I am used to having deer in the backyard because they have stopped by at least once a day my whole life. My mom is a gardener and has a compost pile in the backyard. Unfortunately it rarely every grows in size because the deer, bear, or foxes gorge themselves on whatever we add to the pile. The deer are pretty used to humans to the point that they stop and stare from a couple yards back, or walk slowly in front of the car, but they rarely come right up to humans. Well, this year I went out one day when there was a large herd in the backyard and said hi, meaning I slowly approached them to see how close I could get. Well this time they seemed particularly interested in me so they didn't run. One deer in particular seemed really comfortable with my presence. She licked my hand that day when I reached out.

Two days later on Christmas Day I was bringing out the orange slices that had been soaking in our non alcoholic Glögg, to the compost pile and the herd of deer was out there. The one that licked me the first day came right up and ate the oranges out of my hand. I named her Clementine.

The buck saw this and decided he wanted in on the action, but since bucks can be very aggressive my mom (the photographer) made me go inside. I hung some oranges on the Yucca plant for him. He was grateful.

Once the buck went to inspect the neighbors yard I was allowed back out where Clementine was standing with a friend. The friend was slightly more skittish than Clementine but slowly warmed up enough to eat a few oranges as well.

So there you have it. I spent my Christmas with my family and the neighborhood deer, and that is where I am going to leave my blog for 2009.

Happy New Year Friends! Here's hoping 2010 is a great one!

*PSA- Don't go near deer. They are wild animals and I am very bad example. You never know when an animal is diseased or will become aggressive. People are hurt from deer every year. Wild Deer are NOT Bambi!!!!!!!

Mini Santa Hat and a Cylon goes all Christmas-ey

2009-12-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

After making 20 mini stockings for the Christmas cards I was left with the thought that next time it will just be hats, because there will be no heels to turn. They may have been tiny but the heels were the thorn in my side. I whipped up this little Santa Hat as a test drive of my theory that it would be easier. It was. I also got to use fun fur which I kind of love but just cannot bring myself to knit with normally mostly because you just can't get away with wearing fun fur, especially in NY.

Mini Santa Hat

Supplies:
fingering weight yarn, I used Knit Picks Kettle Dyed in Wine
Lion Brand Fun Fur Solid in white
4 dp glove needles 4"

In Fingering Weight Yarn:
Cast on 3 stitches, work two rounds like an i-cord
kfb 3 times while transfering stitches to 2 more needles (3 holding needles and 1 working needle)
k 2 rows
(k1, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k2, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k3, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k4, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k5, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k6, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k7, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k8, kfb) 3 times
k5 rows

In Fun Fur
k 4 rows
Cast off

Fluff Fun Fir. This may involve gently pulling out the loose strands from where they have been caught in the knitting. Once you are satisfied you have gotten most threads loose, hold the hat over a garbage pail and snip fun fir threads to about a quarter inch. This is of course optional, I just found that the 1 inch fur was a bit too long.

Now you can add something to the top, a handmaid pom or store bought one, or even a bell. I didn't add anything which is also always an option.

Thread a cord through the tip top of the hat for hanging.

After making this hat I went a little further and made a mini version of the Cylon Hat. I don't have a patten for this since it was just a wing it using the original pattern. I used some Karabella Aurora 8 I have had lying around and a single silver thread. I went a little crazy at School Products a while back and now have large spools of sparkly thread, it's a bit ridiculous really, but seemed like a good idea at the time. The red is a cotton, metallic thread I got on ebay a while back. The ball is a glittery 3" styrofoam ball I picked up at Hobby Lobby when I lived in CO. I ripped out the metal hanger piece and reattached it after stretching the hat over the ball. Silly, but fun.

Mini Knitting Makes Me Feel Productive

2009-12-14T07:25:00.000-08:00

I have embraced mini knitting this fall/winter. It started with a custom order of Christmas Cards. I was asked for 20 christmas cards, whatever I decided to make would work. I'm sure this person thought I would be making my normal fancy paper cards but in a moment of insanity I decided to make 20 mini stockings that could be used as ornaments and attach them to 20 swing cards. They take just over an hour to make once you get in the swing of things.

Mini Stockings

Supplies
2 colors fingering weight yarn, I used Shibui sock and Knit Picks Kettle Dyed.
5 dp glove needles size 1 (4 inches in length)
Gold Twine

In Color A
Cast on 4 stitches, working in the round, knit front and back (kfb) of all stitches on 4 needles.
k row
(k1, kfb) repeat
k row
(k2, kfb) repeat
k row
(k3, kfb) repeat
krow

Color B
k 5 rows

Color A
k 5 rows

Color B (short row heel)
k 1 row
k9, wrap stitch, turn work
p18, wrap stitch, turn work
k16, wrap stitch, turn work
p14, wrap stitch. turn work
k12, wrap stitch, turn work
p10, wrap stitch, turn work
k8, wrap stitch, turn work
p6, wrap stitch, turn work
k4, wrap stitch, turn work
p2, wrap stitch, turn work
k2, pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch, wrap stitch, turn work
p3, pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch, wrap stitch, turn work
k4, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
p6, (pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
k8, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
p10, (pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
k12, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
p14, (pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
k16, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 4 times, k18 This row completes the heel and a return to knitting in the round.

Color A
k 5 rows

Color B
k 5 rows

Color A
k 5 rows

Color B
k 5 rows

Color A
k 5 rows
Cast Off

Cut a length of gold twine about 6" in length, thread it through upper corner of stocking and hide knot in stocking.

Great Weekend Mitts

2009-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

These mitts were made on a truly great weekend I had a while back. I had been inspired by the mitts the character Penny wears in Dr Horrible's and needed a cute project for the BSG Fleet Power Battle on Ravelry. There are patterns out there already but I decided to make up my own. So here they are, my Great Weekend Mitts.

UPDATE: I have slightly updated the pattern to include tips for knitting in the round. You can get the updated PDF of the pattern:
download now
Now you can print it!

Materials:
3 colors of Koigu KPM (the semi solid version), 1 skein each.
3 matching colors of either Rowan Haze or the Lion Brand LB Collection Silk Mohair
12 buttons
US Size 4 single pointed needles
4 Size 4 DP needles
embroidery needle big enough to thread 1 strand of koigu and 1 strand of the mohair but small enough to fit through the bottons.

These are knit on straight needles except for the thumb hole. This makes them very fast to finish.

Color's A and B make up the Stripes and Color C is the placket. Each color consists of 1 strand of koigu and 1 strand of the mohair.

Gauge: 5 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch in stockinette

Cast on 44 stitches.

Rows 1-8: (k2, p2) in Color A
Row 9: p in Color A
Rows 10-29: are stockinette stripes. Each stripe is 4 rows in height. The stripes are as follows: Color B, A, B, A, B
Row 30: k Color A
Row 31: p Color A
Row 32: k4, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k5 in color A
Row 33: p Color A
Rows 34-53: are stockinette stripes. Each stripe is 4 rows in height. The stripes are as follows: Color B, A, B, A, B
Row 54: k Color A
Row 55: p Color A
Row 56: k5, M1, k10, M1, k10, M1, k10, M1, k5 Color A
Row 57: p Color A
Row 58: k Color B
Row 59: p Color B

Left Hand
Row 60: k20, place marker M1, k2, M1, place marker, k22 color B
Row 61: p Color B
Row 62: k Color A
Row 63: p Color A
Row 64: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k4, M1, pass marker, k22 Color A
Row 65: p Color A
Row 66: k Color B
Row 67: p Color B
Row 68: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k6, M1, pass marker, k22 Color B
Row 69: p Color B
Row 70: k Color A
Row 71: p Color A
Row 72: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k8, M1, pass marker, k22 Color A
Row 73: p Color A
Row 74: k Color B
Row 75: p Color B
Row 76: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k10, M1, pass marker, k22 Color B
Row 77: p Color B
Row 78: k to marker, remove all stitches between markers and place on holding thread or stitch holder, cast on 2 stitches, k to end of row Color A (there should be 44 stitches on the needles and 12 on the holding thread
Row 79: p Color A
Row 80: k Color A
Row 81: p Color A
Row 82-85: stockinette stripe in Color B
Row 86-91: k2, p2 ribbing Color A
Cast off

Right Hand
Row 60: k22, place marker M1, k2, M1, place marker, k20 color B
Row 61: p Color B
Row 62: k Color A
Row 63: p Color A
Row 64: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k4, M1, pass marker, k20 Color A
Row 65: p Color A
Row 66: k Color B
Row 67: p Color B
Row 68: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k6, M1, pass marker, k20 Color B
Row 69: p Color B
Row 70: k Color A
Row 71: p Color A
Row 72: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k8, M1, pass marker, k20 Color A
Row 73: p Color A
Row 74: k Color B
Row 75: p Color B
Row 76: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k10, M1, pass marker, k20 Color B
Row 77: p Color B
Row 78: k to marker, remove all stitches between markers and place on holding thread or stitch holder, cast on 2 stitches, k to end of row Color A (there should be 44 stitches on the needles and 12 on the holding thread
Row 79: p Color A
Row 80: k Color A
Row 81: p Color A
Row 82-85: stockinette stripe in Color B
Row 86-91: k2, p2 ribbing Color A
Cast off

Thumb
Distribute held stitches on 3 db needles as follows, Needle 1 [1 stitch from 1 side of thumb, pick up 4 stitches from inside of thumb hole where 2 were cast on for body of mitt, 1 stitch from other side of thumb], Needle 2 [4 stitches], Needle 3 [6 stitches]
Thumb Row 1: knit all 6 stitches on needle 1, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2
Thumb Row 2: k1, k2tog, k2tog, k1, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2
Thumb Row 3-5: k4, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2
Cast off

There are two ways to finish these. One way involves making buttonholes and having a functioning placket. I thought about that and did not anticipate a time I would be unbuttoning my stretchy mitts so I faked it.

Finishing Step 1: with the wrong side facing out, whip stitch the two sides of the mitt together using the outermost edges of the stitches.

Placket
The placket is attached by picking up stitches along the seam edge furthest from the thumb if you are looking at the back of your hand. This hides the seam, or if you are making a functioning placket, it is where is overlaps and buttons.

Starting from the top of the mitt pick up stitches as such,
4 stitches along top ribbing, 3 stitches from every stripe, and 5 stitches from the bottom ribbing. This is not the entire number of stitches but it is what makes the placket fit.

Placket Rows 1, 3, 5, 7, 9: *(k2, p2) repeat till last two, k2 Color C
Placket Rows 2, 4, 6, 8,: *(p2, k2) repeat till last 2, p2 Color C
cast off

If you were planning on making the placket functioning they you will have to deal with the buttonholes on your own. sorry! I am a new pattern maker and have not yet mastered the perfect buttonhole, much less how to describe it.

Finishing Step 2: Stitch down the edge of the placket to the top of the mitt. I used a single strand of the mohair and a medium length backstitch. This makes the placket look nice and finished, one of the benefits of cheating and faking the closure. You will skip this step if you made a functioning placket obviously, although I doubt you are even reading my directions at this point if you did.

Finishing Step 3: Stitch on buttons with a strand of the koigu and mohair together.

Finishing Step 4: I do this as I go but I am including it just in case. Weave in all ends.

Now go take pictures of your new cute mitts holding a cup of coffee or tea or snowball and post them on Ravelry!

*reminder that I am new to the pattern writing, and I am a lousy editor so if you come across mistakes or if you need clarification let me know!

I love the Green Market in the morning.

2009-07-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Twice this week I have ended up at the Union Square Green Market early in the morning. It is an awesome way to start the day. I was already taking pictures of my knitting project so I had my camera out and went a little snap happy documenting how pretty all the veggies looked this morning. I picked up an amazing bunch of beets for $2.50 at one of the stands that had mounds and mounds of carrots and beets.

I actually don't like peaches very much but they are so darn pretty, esp in the early morning light.

Lords of Kobol Mission Complete

2009-07-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is my completed project for the BSG Fleet Power Battle's second round of missions. I chose the Lords of Kobol mission, meaning I had to make something "Honoring" or representing one of the Lords of Kobol. I have dubbed this shawl the Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl, named after the mountain ridge on Kobol.

Any of you not into BSG this is all giberish to you so here are all the pretty pictures. I got to city an hour early and hung out in Union Square taking pics. It was fun, made my morning feel a little more productive.

NY, you tease

2009-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

As I have stated before, I have ups and downs with regards to living in NYC. For the most part, I want to run screaming for the hills, but then I have weekends like this last one and I know NY is just teasing me, saying "This doesn't happen other places."

So on Saturday I had my mind set on seeing Harry Potter at the earliest possible showing in Union Square. 10:00 AM. I overestimated how long it would take to get there. The weekend trains are all over the place so I give myself ample time, and got to Union Square at 8:30. Luckily the Farmers Market is nicest early in the morning before it is too packed to walk through and I saw the most beautiful piles of multi colored carrots (who knew they came in colors besides orange? Not me!), squash, and lettuce of every variety. I picked up some fresh apple cider and some blueberry pancakes from Whole Foods to sneak into the theater and saw Harry Potter with the best snacks and what will probably be the fewest people in the theatre all day. I LOVED it. This may just beat out the 4th movie for my favorite, it was just so pretty and watching snow is always nice in the summer. After the movie I headed back home to frost the cupcakes I made for the neighborhood block party.

My block party was awesome. I got to know all the neighborhood kids. I hung out with a ton of the ladies from the block and they were so cool. It was just a lovely, lovely day out in the sun with neighbors.

On Sunday I met up with my senior year college roommate for lunch at the Shake Shack. Once again it was gorgeous out, not humid, and the Shake Shack is always a slam dunk. We were sitting, enjoying out Shack burgers and sweet corn custard (surprisingly tasty, if a bit odd) and who arrives to film some spots for promos at Madison Square Park? Dr. Phil, that's who. Apparently he wanted to look like he was wandering the city being pleasant with NYers.

After this bizarre celeb sighting we wandered up 6th avenue, hit the Japanese bookstore, and made out way over to see Vanities the Musical. It was super cute with very clever costumes and set. I have seen 2 of the girls in the show before. One in Avenue Q and the other (Anneliese Van Der Pol from That's so Raven) in Beauty and the Beast just before it closed. I got to meet them all afterward thanks to C, the ex-roomate on the production staff.

So cheese-ball celeb sighting and meeting a Disney star, that stuff just does not happen many other places.

Never thought I would be Crazy for Potholders

2009-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

I blame Hello Yarn and the Japanese Bookstore.

I have been on a major potholder kick recently, which a year ago I would have thought was about as possible as a toilet paper cozy kick, but one can never predict where your interests will take you. Anyway, it started when my mom sent me a vintage potholder she had found at an antique store. She had been inspired by Hello Yarn's recent vintage potholder acquisitions and subsequent pot holder crocheting experiments. The weekend after receiving the potholder I turned it into a pattern and made three with some Karabella Vintage Cotton that was just not working with the scarf pattern I had started ages ago. This also happened to mark the start of my blue/red trend.

The next pattern I started using was the Pretty Petals Potholder. I only loosely followed the pattern since I hate reading crochet patterns. They should all be in graph form like the Japanese patterns. I used some Sensa Cotton that I had hanging out in my stash and some Paton's Grace. I ended up bringing this one to my grandmother and it was used as a trivet under the many bouquets of flowers she was receiving. The color in the pictures is a bit deceiving. It is actually bright pink with pale green leaves.

I had so much fun making that one that I picked up some Rowan 4 ply cotton, which is very sadly discontinued, and came up with a cabbage pattern. This is accomplished by using a light green as the base, dark green as the petals and a dark purpley-maroon as the accent. The purpley-maroon is crocheted onto the back loop of the top of the petals. I also added a row to the center of the potholder. The picture does not do it justice because the finished product is awesome. I just have trouble taking pictures in one of the rooms in my apartment. I swear it is the black hole of light.

I am making like a dozen more pairs of these. I love them, and they have already been gifted.

Finally, I made a placemat out of the pretty petals pattern. I picked up some Blue Sky Skinny Dyed Cotton, which Holy Crap is amazing stuff, and whipped this up.

Seriously, if I won the lottery, which coincidentally I don't actually play, I would buy enough of this yarn for several sweaters and a blanket. The Blue Sky people have a way with colors and that Glacier is the perfect delicate light blue.

Nerdy Knitting for points on Ravelry

2009-07-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

So Battlestar Fan, Itsyournickle on Ravelry decided to put together a BSG Knitting contest, the Battlestar Galactica Fleet Power Battle. Similar to the Harry Potter House Battles, except this one is between the Pegasus, Galactica, and the Cylon Basestar. Unfortunately, I am a weak link on the Cylon Basestar. I only finished one of the first months challenges. Luckily it was complicated so I feel like I accomplished something. Knitting Designer Glenna C. designed a sock pattern called Viper Pilots. I used that sock pattern to make a Viper Pilot Cowl. I have this thing about not making socks. I tend to use and abuse socks so I feel that it would be a waste to spend time and precious yarn on them, so I make cowls instead. This one used some Kramer sock yarn that I got from The Point when they had their going out of business sale. It's merino, silk, and silver. I used the arrow cable pattern, the vipers, 6 times separated by the swirled rib cable and a little shaping at the bottom so it flares.

The only time I smile at work is when I take pictures of my knitting for this blog or Ravelry. Otherwise it is scowl city.

The intensity of the cables were a welcome distraction from my life for the month of June. It is difficult to be sad when you are thinking this hard about your knitting.

I am hoping to finish all of the challenges for the month of July. The first being a garter stitch shawl with a lacy border. I am smitten with all these finnish knitters and their garter stitch shawls I see on Ravelry. Here is a sneak peak of the colors.

Warning to anyone visiting Purlsoho, Beware of the wall of Koigu. It will suck you in every time.

4th of July in a clean house

2009-07-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

My apartment had gotten out of control. It was being occupied by armies of dust bunnies and I was allowed only in a narrow path through select rooms. I had piles of old magazines that made my place look like it was well on its way to becoming Grey Gardens. The breaking point came when I saw a mouse.

There are 8 rodents for every one person in NYC so you likely to have a mouse in your apartment at least once if you live here. Probably more than once if your home is old and has far to many nook and crannies where they can creep. I decided that I had had enough, I was taking my apartment back. I spent two weekends with Mamma Mia or Gilmore Girls blasting while I dusted, mopped, filed, organized, and most importantly, threw out. I bundled up years of magazines which had not been put out before due to the garbage men's propensity for ignoring them. This time I am staggering their release and hopefully it won't seem to overwhelming for the Saturday garbage men. Now several weeks later my place feels like it belongs to me again and it feels great.

So to celebrate the 4th of July and my clean apartment I cooked cupcakes and artichokes for the weekend. In all honesty I only decided to bake cupcakes after finding out Billy's was closed on Friday and through the weekend. Faced with the choice of some dessert, any dessert and Billy's Banana Cake, Billy's wins.

Finally, a use for those pinwheels I got from Pier 1 years ago.

Measure a Life in Love

2009-06-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

2009 will not go down as a particularly stellar year in my book. This June I lost my grandmother. Although she had been sick for some time, I never actually thought it would come to this because in my eyes my grandmother was an energetic bad ass. She would give me a light poke in the ribs and admonish me for using college language, but that is what she was to me.

My grandmother brought me to my first Broadway show when I was 15. It was RENT. I have used this blog several times to wax poetic about the special place the RENT has in my heart. That is even truer now. After seeing RENT that night we drove back to New Jersey and stopped at a classic diner at midnight to have NY style cheesecake, because to a girl from Colorado, that was extremely cool. Later that trip she and my Grandfather took me shopping in the East Village. My Grandfather would watch pick up basketball games while my Grandmother I ran in and out of punk looking stores picking up wild hair color, big chunky jewelry, wacky nail polish colors, pleather jackets and 5 inch platforms because NY is where you could find platforms shoes for big feet. We went to the Slaughtered Lamb pub and ate pumpkin ravioli next to a werewolf statue while Hellraiser played on the screens in the background. They took me to the TKTS stand in the World Trade Center and we got tickets to Miss Saigon. That vacation was amazing and my grandparents solidified their place as infinitely savvy and cool in my mind.

A few years later my brother joined me for another visit with them and we saw 1776 and Ragtime. As an extra bonus they took us to the Will Rogers Follies at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Shortly after this trip, my grandparents moved to Denver to be closer to all of us. This dramatically changed how we did holidays, as they were now spent at their house with many of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. We would have large, loud get togethers with enough food to feed several small armies.

My grandmother was with me during my senior year of high school when I went on a tour of UNC and the televisions in the common rooms and cafeterias were filled with news flashes of a school shooting in Littleton. We drove back Denver listening to the news updates on the radio and saying very little, because really, what was there to say?

When I went to college in Boulder my Grandmother and Grandfather would regularly come up to see me, take me out to eat, or pick me up for a weekend at their house where I would bogart their washing machine for the weekend. My grandmother made care packages and would take me to Costco. In the first semester of my freshman year when I was terrified to walk on campus alone after dark they went with me to see Eqqus. If any of you have seen this show you know, it is not the ideal show to bring your grandparents too, but they were unflappable. Whenever I needed to get away from campus my grandparents were there to pick me up.

I think my grandmother was excited when I moved to NY. She had lived here for years in her 20's. She and my Grandfather were married here. They lived a few blocks from where I live now in Brooklyn. She got to visit me twice while I lived here. The second time, she stayed with me in my apartment, which was made possible by the sofa and large bed that she got me. This time I was the one guiding her all over the city. We had an awesome dinner in Little Italy and another one at a cool cuban restaurant. We saw Wicked. We had come full circle.

I will miss her like crazy but I know she lives on in my NY adventures, my emails to my 14 year old cousin, in my doll collection of dolls she made, my love of big broadway musicals, and even in my love of all things sparkly, something we share.

I love you Grandma!

Pattern Clarification and Explanation

2009-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have gotten a few questions about the numbering on the Cylon Centurion Hat pattern and I wanted to address them.
1- I numbered the pattern wrong. Whoops! It has been updated with the correct numbers in red. My editing skills are such that even though people told me it was numbered wrong, I did not see the big discrepancy till yesterday.

2- The numbering of the point shaping is separate from the numbering of the rest of the hat. This was my way of saying those rows do not go around the hat, but are only knit in front. Not sure if the professionals would write it that way, but it made sense in my head :) The number sequence goes like this knit 1-16, continue with 1-12 of point shaping, finish with Row 18 to the end.

There was also a question about the short row shaping used to make the point and wrapping stitches. Here is a page from Knitting Daily that explains it.

Anyway, If you have questions send me an email at Wonderfallz@gmail.com or on Ravelry and I will update this page with new questions as I get them.

Lazy, Uninspired, Funk

2009-04-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I have been avoiding my blog. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the funk I am in. This happens once or twice a year since I moved to NY 4 years ago. I go through a few months of living like a hermit avoiding everyone while I dream of leaving NY for my own little Stars Hollow.

Now, despite the dreary weather and lethal eye level umbrellas that make me endlessly crabby, I am determined to emerge, stop neglecting my blog, post the much needed clarifications and fixes to the Cylon Centurion pattern, and if I am really motivated, give my Etsy shop some TLC. To start I am going to show some love for the two shows I have been lucky enough to see recently.

If you are planning on visiting, or live in, NY you must must must see Rock of Ages. I got to see it during previews with a friend from work. I had a blast. The show is insanely fun and so much better than any juke box musical should be. Every single heavy metal power ballad they used made me want to shout "Hell yeah" and throw my arms in the air. The cast rocks the hell out of the music and deserve every TONY nomination (they got 5!) they received. Oh and for my nerdy readers, Amy Acker's (Dollhouse, Angel) husband, James Carpinello, plays the rock star character and is awesome.

I was lucky enough to bring my sister to 9 to 5 previews. It was a monday night, and she is crazy busy but so goes our love of Allison Janney that she would join me. This show did not give me happy nostalgic feelings that Rock of Ages did, but it was still very fun. I am in the middle of a West Wing addiction. I spent years telling my family that I was not ready to watch West Wing, it looked boring, and now I am hooked. This made seeing Allison Janney on stage kind of amazing. She has such a presence.

One last random thing to add to this post. I am so excited. I just placed an order to Amazon for the PBS Wonderworks version of A Little Princess. I have wanted this on DVD for years, but had to settle for the taped from TV version I had at home/home. I think I may need to have a Anne of Green Gables/A Little Princess Marathon this weekend if A Little Princess comes in time.

Temp Delay Due to Craft Idea Overload

2009-02-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

So the pattern for the Storm Trooper hat fell victim to my crafting ADD. I am still working on it, but I got really wrapped up in testing a new craft and refining a pattern for a cowl I have been working on. I absolutely had to work on the cowl and not the hat because the lace pattern I was attempting to develop was giving me nightmares. When I first started reading lace patterns (graph not written), I thought developing a lace pattern would be super easy. Playing with symbols on a graph, I've been doing that in moments of boredom my whole life. I learned really quickly that it is not the case, that lace is complicated and I should work from a few more patterns before I try one of my own again. Well, I was trying again, and even though the pattern is successful, it looks like I wanted it to, it gave me horrible nightmares. The kind of nightmares where you just can't get something to work, or make numbers add up, or speak even though you know you can and it is just a dream. Blah.

Anyway, I spent the other part of the weekend seeing if I could crewel successfully. I was reading the blog Posie Gets Cozy and she had the prettiest crewel, I was inspired. I had attempted it in the past but I had always used thread, not realizing that it was way to thin and I should have been using the box of wool embroidery yarn I inherited from my grandmother instead. It took watching a video on You Tube for me to realize that I was doing it wrong. After watching the video I grabbed some muslin and sketched out a flower, because flowers are the easiest thing to make look like what it is. You can draw any spazed out shape on a stem and it will most likely look like a flower, so it would be the perfect thing for me to test crewel on. Here is the result:

I instantly saw great potential for geek crafting in my new medium but I am not allowing myself to start until I write the Storm Trooper pattern.

Beneath the snark, a spark

2009-01-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

So when I posted my Cylon hat on Facebook my Uncle asked if I could knit him some Storm Trooper armor. I was in the middle of writing a snarky response about how knit pants on a grown person sag like... but as I was writing it I realized that the helmet could possibly be simplified into a hat. As I was contemplating this at work, J was kind enough to point out that his birthday is next month. Seasons 1 and 2 of Blossom are now on DVD and even though those sound like the perfect gift for a Costume Milliner who wears a wookiee backpack around NYC, I will probably refine this pattern a bit more and make him an Imperial Storm Trooper hat instead. My uncle will receive one too of course, and I will probably make a mini one for my 2 year old cousin as well, because that is a photo that needs to happen.

No, there is no pattern yet, I am working on it. Apparently I am not done making nerdy knits.

Now I need to take a moment to say, Yay Snow! It snowed in NY last night and even though it was already disgusting when I got in the city, it was pretty in Brooklyn.

What a week

2009-01-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, this week has been intense. This time last week I was just really excited for a new Battlestar and excited that I had finished my Cylon hat, my third project of 2009. I figured the BSG fans of Ravelry would get a kick out of it but I never expected it to spread as far as it did. I want to say a big Thank You to:
Shayne at Geek Crafts
Jenny Ryan at the Craft Magazine Blog
Meredith Woerner at io9
Tim Quirino at Geekadelphia
AMC's SciFi Scanner
-although geez AMC, way to wield the double edged compliment! No, my knit hat does not compare to Tricia Helfer, She's Tricia fraking Helfer!! But thanks for using us in the same sentence, and in the same post as RDM news.
and Thanks to all the other twitters, live journals and blogs my pattern has popped up on.
This is what traffic to my blog looked like this past week.

I must say it has been unnerving going to my favorite blogs and seeing my face all over the place, so it's a good thing I can hide behind my latest finished project (finished project 4 of 2009) when I am feeling overly exposed, or exposed to the elements since it has been damned cold here lately.

This cowl is based off Cookie A's Monkey sock pattern but knit without purls. The yarn is Socks That Rock I picked up at Rhinebeck. I have to show some blog love to that ring I am wearing. It was my gift to myself from the Bust Craftacular this year. It is ridiculous, sparkly, and huge and I absolutely had to have it. I managed to line up early enough to get a gift bag, and I saw Amy Sedaris. So much fun.

My pal J decided he needed in on the Cylon hat action too, so I got some better pictures of the hat on him if you want to see it in better light and from the side. For some reason my apartment is like the black hole of light and I get much better pictures at work.

Wow, Hi!

2009-01-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say Hello! to all the Craft, Ravelry, and Geek Crafts visitors!

Updated to include the io9 readers, Omigod.I am freaking out a little bit right now, I LOVE io9.

Cylon Centurion Pattern is Up!

2009-01-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

Hello! Just a heads up, I am rewriting the pattern. This was the first pattern I ever really attempted to write and I did a lot of shaping that was new territory for me. Now that I have more experience, I am revisiting the pattern. If you have made it in the past and it has not worked out like you hoped, please back in around December 1st, the new pattern should be in place by then.

Updated with yardage
Updated 05/06/09 Numbering corrected.

So I spent the day watching the Obama festivities and deciphering the notes I made when making the Cylon Centurion hat. They were very different from what I posted previously, which was my first draft, so I apologize to anyone who started a hat using the old instructions. I knit a sample with the new instructions and the pattern makes sense to me so I hope it makes sense to you. I am up for any suggestions or comments, I am very new to pattern writing so I may be confusing or verbose. If you have any problems you can let me know.

You can download the pattern PDF

Color A- gray and silver
Color B- silver
Color C- red
Color D- gray

I used Karabella Aurora Bulky (2 balls, 108 yards), Karabella Glimmer (not quite 2 balls, roughly 240 yards, and Karabella Stardust (a few yards) on Size 10.5 to make an adult large. I paired them like so: Color A was 1 strand of Aurora Bulky, 2 strands of Glimmer, Color B was 4 strands of Glimmer, Color C was 2 strands of Stardust, and Color D was just the Aurora Bulky. If you have a smaller head, you can adjust by switching to a smaller gauge yarn. I made a tester out of worsted (Red Heart gray for colors A, B, D and 1 strand of Stardust for C) and it made a child size hat.

Cast on 6 stitches divided evenly on 3 needles

kfb 6 times, place marker indicating start of row

Hat Crown
Color A
Row 1- (k1, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 2- (k2, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 3- (k3, kfb) repeat to marker
k all even rows 4-14
Row 5- (k4, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 7- (k5, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 9- (k6, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 11- (k7, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 13- (k8, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 14- (k9, kfb) repeat to marker
Row 15- (k10, kfb) repeat to marker (72 stitches total)

Hat Body
Color A
Row 16- k11, kfb, k to marker (73 stitches total)
Row 17- k to marker
*The next rows are the point shaping. They are worked back and forth across the front 1/3 of the hat. All knit rows head forwards, and all purl rows go backwards. The point is numbered separately from the rest of the hat.
Point Row 1- k23, wrap next stitch (ws),
Point Row 2- p21, ws
Point Row 3- k19, ws
Point Row 4- p17, ws
Point Row 5- k15, ws
Point Row 6- p13, ws
Point Row 7- k11, ws
Point Row 8- p9, ws
Point Row 9- k7, ws
Point Row 10- p5, ws
Point Row 11- k3, ws
Point Row 12- p1, ws
*From this point on you will be knitting forward.

*Rows 18 through 28 are the rest of the body shaping.
Row 18- kfb, k10, k2tog, k to marker
Rows 19-28- ssk, k10, m1, k, m1, 10, k2tog, k to marker

Hat Band
Switch to color B
Row 29- p2tog, p9, pfb 2 times, p10, p2tog, p to marker
Row 30- ssk, k9, kfb 2 times, k10, k2tog, k to marker
Row 31- p2tog, p2, Switch to color C k7, kfb 2 times, k8, Switch back to Color B p2, p2tog, p to marker
Row 32- ssk, k1, Switch to Color C ,k8, kfb 2 times, k9, Switch back to Color B, k1, k2tog, k to marker
Row 33- p2tog, Switch to color C k9, kfb 2 times, k10, Switch back to Color B, p2tog, p to marker
Row 34- ssk, k9, kfb 2 times, k10, k2 tog, k to marker
Row 35- p2tog, p9, pfb 2 times, p10, p2tog, p to marker
Row 36- ssk, k9, kfb 2 times, k10, k2tog, k to marker
Row 37- BO 25 stitches, p20, BO 8 stitches, p20

Earflaps
Switch to Color D
Earflap Row 1- p row (row headed towards back of hat)
Earflap Row 2- p2tog, p remaining stitches (row headed towards front of hat)

Repeat this garter stitch and shaping till there are 9 stitches left on each needle.

Braid
Cut 2 foot lengths of the gray and silver and feed them through the remaining loops, this is how I bound off.
Braid the lengths and knot.

Your done!

The Happiest Cylon

2009-01-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

In honor of the start of the final season of Battlestar Galactica, I present the geekiest thing I have ever made (or is that the stake I carved in honor of Buffy when I was 16?), the Cylon Centurion hat!

I started this about 8 months ago when I was in the early throws of BSG obsession. I hacked together a pattern and frogged it many times so it sat in a bag until this week when I started tackling WIP's.

Yarn used:
Karabella Aurora Bulky #17
Karabella Glimmer #1054
Karabella Stardust Red

Official Pattern is finished! PDF
I am new to the pattern making, I don't rely on them very much in my knitting, so if you have any comments or suggestions I am happy to hear them. If you need any help let me know.

So Little Time...

2009-01-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about posting for months. I have so much to post really, pictures from NY Sheep and Wool, my future house on Chestnut Street in Rhinebeck, Christmas gifts that came out perfect, and pictures of projects I already finished in 09 as part of my resolution to knit from my very large stash of yarn and finish WIP's. So to break this bad trend of not posting, and throwing order to the wind, I am posting a few projects. But first my resolutions.

This year I am going to try desperately to finish knitting projects I have started. I have a horrible habit of cruising the internet at work, getting excited about an awesome project or idea, and then going out immediately after work and getting the supplies for said project. I will go home and start my new project, and it will indeed be awesome. It will be awesome for that night, maybe that weekend, and then it will be awesome in a ziploc bag, in a box, waiting for the day that I have time to finish this great project because I have already moved on to the next thing. The problem is, I don't want to forget the inspiration I had for any given project so I just keep starting them. This year, I will swim against the current and I will finish projects that I have already started. Here are two projects that I have already finished this year, working from yarn in my stash.

The patterns is Reykjavik.

The pattern is Bella's Mittens.

Oddly enough, there seems to be a brown and blue theme. Normally I am all about the pink, but the new year and winter weather is inspiring a new color palette.

OK That got me started. I hope to post all of the things I mentioned above and more, let's see it I can use the start of a new year as motivation.

This particular post was inspired by Adina, who posted something similar in her blog. I think the resolution to finish projects and knit from stash is an annual and universal one among crafters.

Pre-Festivalling aka a Hike on Burger Hill

2008-11-15T16:37:00.001-08:00

Want to know what is wonderful? A trip to the NY Sheep and Wool Festival with my mom during peak foliage season. That is what is wonderful.

In October my mom came to visit for a week and a half, joined by my dad for the half. This will be the highlight of my year. My mom flew in, got to see my apartment, and then we took the train upstate for a fall trip. We went up a day before the festival started so we went for a hike on a place called Burger Hill. This is the highest hill in Rhinebeck and it looks out for miles and miles, over cute New England houses, red, orange and yellow trees, and purple mountains at the horizon. The hill itself is kind of funny, there is about 1 tree and a few stark stone benches, making the hill itself look minimalist like a Hopper painting.

Check out these insane clouds. And a shout-out to my camera for actually capturing them!

Finally, a different topic.

2008-11-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

The past three months have been consumed by politics, as I am sure my readers know. I spent many many nights watching hours and hours of news. Because I cannot just sit and watch without doing something with my hands, I was left with ample time to knit away the political anxiety, which by the way, is all gone, replaced with giddy happiness and hope. The #1 project on the needles was my Rhinebeck scarf. I had purchased this gorgeous wool and mohair from a company called Decadent Fibers from Rhinebeck last year. It was a wonderful fall mix of deep oranges, reds and purple. I only had one skein which was too small to do anything with so it sat on my shelves. Later this year I had purchased a purpley skein from Wool Girl to be used in a Christmas scarf with a skeins of red and green. One day I was "cleaning", used in parenthesis because cleaning for me usually means playing with my yarn and reorganizing it, and I happened to put the purple and fall skein next to each other and it was like magic. They were meant to be together even though I would never put them together normally. I finally figures out what I was going to where as my knit piece to Rhinebeck this year. Here are the results.

All pictures were taken in Central Park by my mom and I after a wonderful trip to Zabars. More on that visit next time.

Happy Election Day!!!!!

2008-11-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

Today is a very exciting day. I have my special election day outfit on, my Obama shirt from Moveon.org, my Obama HOPE pin I got from one of the dozens of Obama themed vendors in Union Square, and I've got my super silly pink sunglasses with Obama written across the lenses in rhinestones (these were a hit on the subway this morning). I am all set to celebrate the election. Forgive the really horrific picture of me, I will have more flattering ones from Rhinebeck to post soon.

On as equally a silly note as my sunglasses, I am an emotional wreck today. Everything is making me tear up. There are happy tears for stories of thousands of college students getting in line at 6am to vote, or seeing the long lines of New Yorkers wrapped around the block waiting to vote, or getting the menu that is always faxed to us with the message "Vote Vote Vote Vote Vote" written across the top, or the happy pictures of Obama holding babies, or the video of Obama voting with his kids, or standing on the subway platform with a dozen other people also wearing Obama shirts and pins. There are sad tears when I watch the video of Obama speaking about his grandmother.

I am not sure yet where I will be tonight. I can't decide whether to find an election night celebration or to have my own celebration at home where I can watch Rachel Maddow, Chris Mathews, and Keith Olbermann. One thing I am sure of, is that I will be celebrating an Obama victory tonight!!!

It's been a while...

2008-10-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a while because I have been in an exasperated political mood, and I have been celebrating Fall with my Mom, Dad, and Sister! I would post about that but I am in the process or sorting out those pictures. Lots of Thea communing with the animals pictures to sort through :) For the time being I am going to leave you with these thoughts...

VOTE OBAMA! I did...

And in that vein, go to Yes We Can (Hold Babies) for some heartwarming pictures of Obama holding babies. This is one of my favorite sites right now.

Now for some random. Sometimes I have to reassure my dad that I eat fruits and veggies since I never did growing up and like so few of them. I actually found that it is not a matter of liking too few, it is a matter of only liking the expensive ones, rasberries, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus, ect. What I don't like are the most ubiquitous ones, I don't like apples, carrots, and lettuce. Anyway, there are so many beautiful food pictures on many of the craft sites that I thought, what the hell, I will post a foodie picture of my own.

Sometimes I like my meals to resemble assembly lines. This meal of toasted french bread with pesto, onions, fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes is my favorite assembly line meal. Every so often I add sliced olives to it as well.

I will post my Rhinebeck/Yay Fall pictures soon.

Three Things... is this what they call a meme?

2008-09-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

Mindy tagged me, I've never been tagged before but I like this way better than email tags. Feels more fruitful than chain emails for some reason. The rules are: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

Joys
1) Holding Skeins of new yarn at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival, and knowing that I will be able to do that with my mom this year!
2) Extreme snow days where no one can leave the house, when I spend my day shoveling the driveway with my dad, "hugging" the trees (that's right I am a literal tree hugger :) to shake the snow off so they don't break, and shuffling around the house watching DVD TV box sets while wearing pajamas, eating grilled cheese sandwiches and drinking coffee.
3) Sitting in the front row of the Nederland Theatre as the opening notes of the song RENT blast through the speakers and the stage crackles with energy. Sadly this is a joyful memory since RENT closed this month after 12 glorious bohemian years.

Fears
1) McCain/Palin (sorry this is a political season and that is forefront on my mind)
2) The idea of ever working New York Upper East Side retail ever again.
3) Nuclear Fallout. The #1 reason we need a President who will bring an end to pointless wars and will communicate with other countries and world leaders. VOTE OBAMA!

Goals
1) Like Mindy, I too want to be debt free and I want to have a strong savings account so I can move if I needed or wanted to with the help of Movers. Oh and when I move I want to be able to afford a place with a washer and dryer.
2) This is a long shot, but hey reach for the stars right? I want to work for myself.
3) To keep a clean-er home. The ADD OCD crafter in me causes me to hoard craft supplies and to start many projects at once. Then there are all those pesky normal things like bills, pay check stubs, laundry that just add on to the pile of stuff and are not interesting enough to try to organize unless forced. In short, I want to be able to have visitors over with little notice.

Current Obsessions/Collections
*oh geez where do I even begin Obsessions and Collections are my entire life.
1) Watching and reading Political news coverage, even if it makes me want to read Harry Potter as a retreat into a different world entirely because surprisingly Voldermort is less scary than reality.
2) Knitting and Spinning. With a nod to my goal of saving money, I am excited to say that I have reigned in my yarn spending. Partly in anticipation of Rhinebeck, and partly because my collection is ummmm... a tad big :) she says sheepishly
3) Sci Fi Television!!!! Battlestar Galactica, The Middleman, Pushing Daisies (it counts in my book), Heroes, Fringe, Eureka, Dr Horrible!!!, Buffy, Firefly... I just love that Sci Fi Televison.

Fun Facts to Know and Tell
1) I have eaten a variation of the same breakfast food as long as I can remember, and from what I am told, my whole life. Dannon Coffee Yogurt
2) I have never been on a boat besides the Ferry and paddle variety and someday hope to travel on one to see Iceburgs before they disappear, that is, if the boat does not make me ill.
3) I did not grow up near the water, but now that I can go to beaches and see the Ocean, it instantly relaxes me. I understand and feel that pull to be close to the coast. But the Northern coast, none of those tropical temperatures for me thank you very much.

Tagging: so many of my friends have crafts only blogs so I am not sure who to tag. Maybe Leila? Or hey, if any of my readers want to continue you can tell me in the comments that you took the "Three" ball and ran with it!

McCain/Palin: a Vote for Immorality and Championing of Stupidity

2008-09-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

So I was going to go into a lengthy post about how ear marks are normally good things Children's hospitals, special needs schools, infrastructure repair, and college research programs. That the only reason McCain rails against them is because Alaska grossly abused the system. Seriously, there is video of McCain himself using Alaska and that stupid bridge as an example of abuse, this was of course before his desperate bid for attention, the choice of Palin as a running mate.

I could go into the fact that McCain's campaign is being run by lobbyists. His campaign manager's lobbying firm was receiving money from Freddie Mac through last month. The firm was lobbying to protect Freddie Mac from regulations, you know, those things that would have prevented the major economic shit-storm we are in right now. The McCain campaign may be pissed the the NY Times is covering this at all but it does not make it any less true. McCain is not interested in helping all American's prosper. He is interested in keeping the status quo so he and his buddies can continue conducting shady business driving America's economy into the ground so they can keep their yachts, their country homes, and their fleets of foreign vehicles.

I was also going to go into a long list of all the horrific things McCain/Palin have done concerning women and children. Things like Palin cutting the funding for Alaska's Special Olympics, or McCain voting against Biden's bill requiring mandatory coverage of Rape Kits, or Palin's home town of Wasilla, being the only town that charges victims for their Rape Kits (you know those examinations women receive after being brutally attacked?), or Palin stopping an initiative to remedy the rape and sexual assault of minor's problem that plagues Alaska because she had a vendetta against the leader.

I could go into the fact that McCain and Palin have targeted several countries we are at peace with during their campaign. Call me crazy but speaking aggressively about going to war with Russia, doesn't sound like such a good idea. Mistaking Spain with Mexico and then speaking ill of it even further during explanation, seems frankly, like a stupid fucking mistake by McCain. Bush has already alienated enough American allies and the McCain/Palin campaign seems to be alienating even more without even being in office.

I could go into the fact that Palin is dumb as a box of rocks and America is a joke to the rest of the world for even considering her for anything even close to Vice President. I can see Canada if I go upstate, can I be Vice President? Oh wait, I actually think a nation should take care of all it's citizens rich or poor, bad communist thoughts, bad. We are supposed to believe that McCain/Palin would change Washington, but they were unable to even come up with an original platform. Change you can believe in?, umm yeah, that had been printed on Obama T-shirts, posters, and buttons for months. Palin wants to put the Federal Government's budget online, like she did Alaska's, but you know what? Obama already did that, and had she any working knowledge of the Federal Government she would have known that. How is Palin supposed to work with international leaders if our media is too mean? How is this woman supposed to help keep America safe if she is so desperate not to be held accountable for her illegal, unethical actions as governor that she used an easy to hack email for State business?

I could go on for pages and pages because the McCain/Palin ticket is just so bad, but I have been watching so much news, finding out so many atrocious things that I am getting a bit weary. I am in shock that McCain/Palin have any following what so ever. I am sad that this country puts so little value in knowledge, education, understanding, reasoning and morality.

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

2008-09-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

I know there is a stereotype that Democrats raise taxes. I have heard it over and over on the news from Republican spokespeople. CNN has chosen to tackle the economy one issue at a time every morning. Here is a breakdown of how each candidate plans on taxing or lowering the taxes for the different income brackets.

Plain and simple. If you make under $112,000 a year individually, you save significantly more money in taxes with Obama. In fact the only people who will not receive a tax break under Obama's plan are those who make over $227,000.

My big question to McCain is how does he plan on balancing the budget, as he has promised, if he is cutting everyone's taxes? Why do the richest 1% of the country get 25% of the tax relief? How is he going to balance the budget if his plans include American troops staying in Iraq indefinitely? How is he going to balance the budget and strengthen the economy with thousands of families defaulting on their mortgages and losing their homes while their jobs are being shipped overseas because McCain's no holds barred free trade policies make sweat shops in China or India cheaper?

Next time I will be examining earmarks, pork barrel spending and what Palin really meant by "Thanks but not thanks on the bridge to nowhere".

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York...

2008-09-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

One of the more disturbing trends coming out of the RNC is the idea that coming from a small town makes one a better, moral, more trustworthy person and being from a big city makes one elitist, immoral, and sinful (aka gay).

Definition of elitist: consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group.

By that definition that would make the small town people at the RNC and Palin elitist.

But that is not the point I am trying to make. I do not write this to suggest that small town people or big city people are any better or worse than the other. The strengths of a big city are often the weaknesses of a small town and vice versa. I have very dear friends from both big cities and small towns, and although I live in the big city, I fantasize about moving to a small New England town. I have a problem with any campaign that writes off a huge group of American citizens because they live in big cities. McCain/Palin and the Republican spokespeople are demeaning the lives of millions of American citizens. The top 100 largest cities in the US with populations of over 200,000 add up to 60,016,343 people according the estimates for the 2007 census. If you only count Chicago and the two cities larger, that is still 14,945,525 citizens.

The worst part of the RNC's big city bashing was that they went on to exploit the images and video of 9/11 as a way to energize the crowd and inspire patriotic feelings and cheering. The NY skyline was used as a patriotic symbol when the background screen was not showing actors as wounded soldiers and random California middle schools. An inappropriate video of 9/11 was shown to re-energize the feelings of blind trust in the government. The people who died in the twin towers on 9/11 were BIG CITY PEOPLE, New Yorkers. I understand that NY is home to many images that are "American." The Statue of Liberty, The Chrysler Building, The Empire State Building, Ellis Island, Wall Street, The UN, and yes even the skyline is a patriotic symbol. So how dare they question the patriotism, work ethic, and morality of big city citizens while exploiting images and events from the big city.

Let's do the Time Warp again, and again, and again in our stump speech on the campaign trail...

2008-09-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Over the past week and a half I have watched politics go from a race based on issues and policies where Democrats and Republicans payed each respect, to something more akin to a High School student council election complete with lies, sneers, and bullying. I cannot just sit back and watch with my fingers crossed hoping that American's don't accept their candidates at face value, or blindly vote down their party lines based on stereotypes assigned to the opposite party. I have been thinking about how I could make a difference and get involved. I am no good at phone banks and have a hatred of getting political calls myself and I have no desire to have a viewing party in my teeny NY apartment. I do have this blog with readers all over the country and a few outside :) so for the time being I will be writing about politics.

Issue number 1. During the Republican National Convention (RNC) the comparison was drawn between experience as a Community Organizer and being the mayor of a small town. Although I have my own opinions on this experience argument, I will keep those to myself. What I want to address and fix is the time-line that was warped out of shape in Palin's acceptance speech at the RNC and as she repeats it on the campaign trail.

In 1983 Obama graduated from Columbia University and went to work as a community organizer in one of Chicago's troubled areas.

In 1984 Palin won her town beauty pagent and won second in the state.

In 1992 Palin won a seat in Wasilla's City Council. Wasilla Population 5,500.

In 1992 Obama ran Project VOTE in Chicago, registering 150,000 new voters. Having graduated from Harvard Law, he was also the lead guest lecturer at the University of Chicago's Law School. Chicago's population in 1990 (closest census) 2,783,726. The Project VOTE registered 5% of the population of Chicago at that time to vote.

In 1996 Palin was elected as Mayor of Wasilla.

In 1996 Obama was elected as a State Senator.

From there on out we know that Palin became Governor of Alaska and Obama worked in Washington as a Senator. I will go into what both did in those positions at a later date. The real purpose of laying out the beginning of the time-line is to show how ridiculous the comparison of Mayor of Wasilla and Community Organizer is in terms of experience.

Goodbye Love...

2008-09-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Oh this is a sad sad week for broadway. RENT is closing on Saturday. I am still debating on whether or not I am going to attempt the lottery for the final few shows since there are going to be hundreds trying. I might just sit across the street and watch the celebs arrive. Lame, ok, but I love it so pride be damned.

In other Broadway news I saw Tale of Two Cities last night. Before going I had listened to the show sound bites on their website. There was potential from the clips for something big and epic, which I love, but sadly it was a forgettable show. The set was fun, the costumes great, and the singers were amazing. The music and lyrics were boring. The only line I can remember is "Out of sight, Out of mind." Appropros, I think.

You Should Be Watching The Middleman!

2008-08-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks back I read a post on io9 that said "You fools! Why are you not watching The Middleman?" I read the post, watched the clip and went home that evening and used my itunes gift card to purchase every episode available. I had been meaning to check it out, but was in the middle of a Northern Exposure thing and didn't. Boy did I feel like a fool, not for watching Northern Exposure which is awesome, but for not paying attention to this show from day one.

The Middleman follows Wendy Watson, a artist, pacifist, zombie movie loving, gory video game playing, comic book reader as she fights sci fi crime with her boss The Middleman (the adorable Matt Keeslar). When she is no fighting crime she is living in an illegal loft space (the loft space of my dreams) with her confrontational spoken word artist best friend, Lacey. Even though this is technically a sci-fi show, Wendy and Lacey are the some most realistic representations of 20 somethings I've seen on TV. Somehow this show is on ABC family, and is scheduled right before the 700 Club, even though it would be better suited for the Sci Fi Channel, The CW (because it is part of the evolution of the WB which gave us Buffy once upon a time and Aliens in America today) or The N. It is very liberal, very sarcastic and very pop culture savvy. The Middleblog, actually had to start posting lists and explanations of all the references because there are so many that you miss some, and a few are so obscure they need explanation even to a seasoned pop culture junkie.

I have described this show as a mix of Buffy, Ghostworld, Wonderfalls, and Daria, and like Wonderfalls it is at risk. Like many brilliant shows it might not be picked up for a second season. So this is my post telling you to watch the season (hopefully not series) finale of The Middleman on ABC Family Monday night at 10:00 EST. In the meantime you can watch Wendy "Get her Buffy on" in last weeks episode streaming on the ABC Family website. This weeks episode (with Mark Sheppard! of BSG and Firefly) will be available streaming at the end of the week. If you like what you see go to itunes and buy the season!

Veronica Mars Scarf

2008-08-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Veronica Mars wears a surprising number of scarves for living in Southern California. When I was going through my obsession with Veronica Mars I was inspired to knit the scarf she wears in Season 1, episode "Meet John Smith." Mostly I just really love pink and green. This scarf is knit in the round and out of Karabella Aurora 8. I love Aurora 8, it is extremely soft and very bouncy. This will go perfectly with the obscene amount of pink shirts I wear. It will also be the warmest scarf I own.

I have been spending this Sunday adding fringe and finishing touches to a bunch of projects. It is my least favorite part of any projects since it seems to take an inordinantly long amount of time. I have a bit of a cold this weekend, which actually bodes well for all chores I normally find tedious. When I am loopy with a cold, I always end up cleaning.

Summer Vacation part 2

2008-08-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

OK, More Summer Vacation.

If I was forced to live in CO (no offense to all who choose to live in CO, it is just not of interest to me, so I use the word forced) I would live in Boulder, or just outside Boulder in Nederland. I have not been back up there since I moved to NY so it was very, very nice to spend the afternoon there with my parents. Our first stop was Walnut Cafe for lunch and pie (they are famous for it). Walnut Cafe is awesome because the food is always good (their home fries with dill sauce is surprisingly good), the atmosphere is very laid back, and the crowd always includes actual Boulderites not just the college crowd.

We then spent about an hour choosing books for my cousins at the on Pearl street. This is my kind of task since my taste is not that far off from a 15 year old girl. We ended up choosing Green Glass Sea, which I have not read yet but picked up after reading a review at Bookshelves of Doom (This blog is run by a librarian in Maine who has excellent taste in YA books). Pearl Street has always been one of my favorite things about Boulder. There are always circus street performers or musicians on the weekends. There is a clear shot of the Flat Irons star in the winter (the star made out of lights on the side of the mountains) and in the spring the street is lined with thousands of tulips.

Our next stop was the Dushanbe Tea house. I could go into a really long explanation of it's orgins in Tajikistan but you might as well read it off their Website. It has been hot hot hot in Colorado this summer. After being in gross NY it felt really good to me, but my parents needed a little break for it so we had some fancy iced tea drinks under a canopy of leaves on the patio of the tea house. I attempted to take a picture of our drinks and the location, it really was stunning, but sadly I realized that my camera's batteries were dead. whoops.

After spending a wonderful afternoon in Boulder we headed back for Colorado Springs, stopping at my grandparents for a small get together to my extended family could see me.

Now, jumping back to the beginning of this post I wrote that I would also live in Nederland, but I never gave an explanation why. Well, when I was in college I went to a concert in Nederland that was in this lodge looking bar. I don't remember the band but I do remember talking to this tough older lady with long long gray hair. She told me how great it was to live there, in the woods, where she could go out back on her porch naked and see the bears. I still think that woman was pretty damn cool. Nederland is also famous for their winter festival, Frozen Dead Guy Days. So pretty much everything I know about Nederland has made it seem like the tough mountain equivalent to Stars Hollow.

Anyway, just so this post is not completely devoid of pictures, here is another stop that I try to make when I am in CO. It is a sad sad day after you move to NY and find out there there are no Sonics. not even if you travel north. So when you go home it is fun to text your Midwestern NY friends and tease them with the fact that you are enjoying a Vanilla Dr Pepper, Ocean Water, or Cherry Limeade. I am taking the teasing one step further by photo blogging it.

Summer Vacation Part 1

2008-08-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

I came back this week from a week long vacation back home in Colorado. The most remarkable thing about this vacation was that is marked the final round of major dental work! No offense to anyone I saw, but this this dental work has been hanging over me like an expensive dark NY winter slush cloud and I am glad it has finally lifted. Why do you wait until you go to CO to get dental work done you ask? Because I have the best and nicest dentist who blows the dentists I have been to in NY out of the water, that is why.

So things I did...

I saw my friends Mindy and Adam, who had a baby six months ago named Thad. He is the most adorable baby boy. He is also the most gentle baby I have ever held. There was no hair pulling, only hair petting and I think he knows that his smile can make people melt.

I went to the grocery store and the farmer's market. Yes, I realize that I can do both of these things in NY, and the Union Square Green is great, but there is something amazing about a grocery store outside of NY where the aisles are wide, the variety is ridiculously vast and the shelves are stocked. This time my mom took me to the Mexican grocery store which was even better than the average Safeway because it had huge tables of limes and 10 foot stacks of the large hot sauce bottles for a buck or two.

The biggest difference between the Green Market in NY and the Farmer's Market in CO is the roasting green chili's. The smell is amazing and it is near impossible to find good green chili in NY. The big similarity between the Green Market and the Farmer's Market was the crowd. Albeit, the Green Market is bigger, both have very little walk space and people who stop dead in that little walk space, rather than move to the side, to hold a conversation with their daughter who is 20 feet back. In true New Yorker spirit, I kind of shoved right past because I was on the losing end of a battle for a decent mocha. Here is a picture of the cute bag of apricots my mom got.

Anyway, chew on that for a bit and I will post the rest of my vacation adventures later :)

Here is what I do...

2008-07-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

I fall. A Lot. When I was younger we thought it was because I was growing. I was/am pretty tall so when I ran into things, or tripped over something (or my own feet) we blamed it on the fact that I was a growing child getting used to my tall frame. I now know that I am just a major spaz.

This weekend I was helping my friend Jennifer move because I was paying forward moving karma. Truth be told I really despise moving, but since Leila and Patrick helped me move to my place in Brooklyn, I felt that I needed to pay the gesture forward. On my second trip down (from the 3rd floor walk-up) I pulled a muscle in my neck. After my fourth trip down we were taking the first load over to hew new place and I was dashing across the street to get the dolly which was upstairs and managed to land one foot in the pothole that all the cars had been swerving around all day. The other foot landed funny, twisted and sent me flying (luckily) towards the cars parked by the side of the road (as opposed to sprawling in the middle of a busy street. My belief in moving karma ended right then and there. Today I am walking with a limp. Fun.

About a year ago I was spending my Saturday with G. We were hanging out in The Modern, the bar at the Moma, and drinking the Rose drink (I NEVER thought a drink with rose water and rose petals could taste so good, esp not after tasting the god awful rose infused chocolates at work) when we decided to check out what's available at TKTS (since we already missed the lottery times for the shows we wanted to see). We made a speed round through the MOMA and headed over. We are cross the street that is in front of the Times Square TKTS stand and as I am stepping up onto the sidewalk my foot misses it and I am sent flying flat on my face. It is so dramatic that the entire line waiting in front of the TKTS (on a saturday) and Tarzan theatre all gasp. Seriously you can hear people reeling back and some guys yell "Ooooooooohh" I had scabs on my chin and nose for a week.

Around the same time last year I was walking around a rainy Union Square with my newish J-Crew flip flops and fell a grand total of 3 times in one day, in Whole Foods, in front of the liquor store, and once in front of starbucks.. It was that day that I discovered that J Crew flip flops turn into skates when they come in contact with smooth wet surfaces. Actually they are worse than ice skates because I am pretty sure the water repels them sending the wearers legs in 2 different directions. I have since given my flip flops the same treatment as my tires back home, I siped them. That is to say, I cut criss crossing slits into the tread and have not fallen or slipped while wearing them since.

Oh and one time last year I was walking up the wet, slushy subway stairs to my elevated J train stop and slipped on the slush and fell up the stairs. And true to NY form everyone just stepped around me in order to make the train that was coming. Thanks Bed-stuy/Bushwickers!

Anyway, I am not looking for pity, even though the posts read a little bitter. I simply felt the need to put it out there in the world that I am a major league spaz, and everytime I fall, I thank my ancestry for my good strong German bones which (knock on wood) have never broken (except for that pinky toe).

Ennui and Boredom

2008-07-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if boredom is exactly the word or if unmotivated would be more accurate. That is how I have been feeling all month. I am still getting work-work done, but there is very little excitement in doing so.

The other day I was bored, anxious to get the hell out of there and stretched back in my chair. That brought my face just underneath this plastic curly thing J made and hung behind my desk. I decided to capture it on film.

All of this boredom and Ennui is only exacerbated by repeated watching of Dead Like Me.

This was a almost pointless post but I wanted to post the picture because I thought it was cool. I will also take this opportunity to say that I updated my Etsy shop, as you can tell by the mini shop on the side. Now lets see if I can't get photo's that are in focus.

Glam Rock Ravenclaw

2008-07-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

So way back, right before the release of the final Harry Potter book I started knitting this so I would have something to do while waiting in the very long line at the scholastic book release party. Sadly I lost one of my needles down the subway grate I was sitting on about 30 minutes into waiting. It is the first in a whole series of future HP scarves, because who can resist making a Harry Potter scarf when you read the books.

If a Ravenclaw were to party, it would be in this scarf

The formula was simple:
3 skeins of Karabella Stardust in Copper
1 skein of Karabella Piuma Gold in Blue

Size 8 needles

Cast on 24 stitches
Knit the entire thing in 1x1 rib. (k1, p1)

12 rows of copper
4 rows of blue

Repeat until desired length

Finish with 12 rows of copper.

(optional) add fringe, braid or leave it plain. If you choose to add the Stardust as fringe you must knot the end of each strand to avoid some nasty unraveling.

Air Conditioning and Summer SAD

2008-06-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

Apparently less than 1% of the population suffers from Summer Seasonal Affective Disorder but I would swear that I am one of them. In theory summer is nice. I have daydreams about cool breezes, iced tea, watermelon, cool cotton fabrics, twilight, green grass, adirondack chairs, ect. My reality is smelly stagnant NY air, clothes that stick to my skin and turn dark with sweat and hot dirty sidewalks. I don't recall hating summer this much in CO, but as soon as the temperature hits 80 degrees in NY I retreat to my apartment, Barnes and Noble or the movies. I always get a mad case of the anywhere but New York when it gets warm. I daydream about going anywhere with fewer people, a slower pace, more open space, and a lower cost of living. Everyday I check out a different location of the Metro North or Jet Blue that is close by enough to go for the weekend, or I check Craigslist for apartments in Maine, Rhode Island, or upstate NY. The things (or people) that I find intolerable become even more so and I end up avoiding everyone while I get crazy crafty at home and watch movies about winter, Christmas or Canada.

This weekend was the Annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. I went last year. It is a cute idea and kind of fun. It is also not nearly as nasty (temperature wise) as the rest of the city since it is so close to the ocean, but it is still crammed full of pushy people and the subway ride is ridiculously long with very little hope of getting a seat. For those reasons I decided this year to stay in the comfort of my air conditioning while I designed and knit a mitten, spun yarn, and watched Little Women, Hairspray, and Anne of Green Gables. The pictures are of the only thing I finished this weekend.

I have named the yarn "Swimming Pool" and it is a heavy laceweight. The skein is 533 yards.

Nature and New York

2008-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

So I was walking down 6th Avenue the other day and I was passed the Bed Bath and Beyond at 19th. Something small, round and white comes bouncing off the side of the building and hits the head of a girl walking with her friend talking on her cell phone. She and her friend stop on the corner and start staring up at the building trying to spot the person who had thrown something while she yells into her cell phone about being hit. What they didn't realize is that a few feet away the thing that hit her on the head was sitting on the subway grate. It was a perfectly round egg about 1 1/2" egg with a whole on one side. Somewhere on that building was a brand new baby bird.

Gratuitous Yarn Buying Diet

2008-05-23T12:05:00.001-07:00

I had developed a very nasty yarn buying habit recently. I would sit at work, browse yarn sites and think of millions of projects I could make. I was buying yarn for all these projects, ignoring the fact that I already have about 20 projects started that I thought were brilliant. Finally about a month ago, when my BSG obsession started I was able to put a damper on the yarn buying.

This break has been eye opening since I was able to take a step back and examine my yarn and fiber stash and calmly come the the conclusion that I had more yarn than time to create and therefor should finish at least a few projects with the yarn I had before starting more. Since my obsession was elsewhere, my stash felt like more than enough.

That felt rational and good until this week. This week all I have wanted to do is buy yarn. Luckily it is now Friday afternoon and after a week spent fake yarn shopping (that is, putting yarn into a shopping cart and then clearing it out at the end of the day) I have been strong and have purchased no yarn. I even finished a project.

This post may be a little boring but I needed to put it out there in the world because that nagging urge to buy yarn is strong and perhaps writing that down and admitting it might be a form of therapy in and of itself.

1 2/3 hours till I can numb that urge with Happy hour! YAY Friday! YAY 3 day weekend!

What I do while watching BSG

2008-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yay, I am finally posting something with pictures! But first, why I hate Spring.

I was excited when I first moved out here. A real Spring! With pretty flowers and tree's blooming. Colorado doesnt really have a spring. It goes from Winter to Summer (and sometimes it flip flops between the two with snow in May) and the only thing that indicates that it has changed are the puffy red eyes and sneezing that were associated early summer Scrub Oak blooming. I was naive enough to think that Spring in another state might be enjoyable. WRONG! This year the pollen is the worst it has ever been. I walk around in a permanent fog of congestion and my face wiggles like I have a severe tic because I constantly feel a sneeze coming on. My eyes are puffy and red and the newest allergic reaction to Spring in order to make me a complete leper, Hives! I am a pretty, pretty sight to behold right now.

Anyway, In order to avoid prolonged exposure to the pollen (aka the outdoors) I have been staying at home. Yeah, something new and different for me. I have been working on my 80 different ADD craft projects and started one that makes me very excited. I am crocheting large doilies from or derived from the patterns in my grandmothers old magazines and my Japanese craft books while watching Battlestar Galactica over and over. I don't actually have a use for doilies in my world. Any surface in my apartment is covered in piles of crafts, clothes, books or dishes, but I do have a deep-seated desire to have many giant snowflakes that will hang from my ceiling. So I am going to make many large doilies, 2' to 5' in diameter, stiffen them with Paverpol, and add teeny tiny rhinestones. In the end I hope to have my very own instillation art piece of gigantic crocheted snowflakes.

Are you totally jealous of the gigantic ironing tables I have available for me to use for blocking at work?

This first doily is only 2' in diameter.

A quick note on Paverpol. It's great stuff if you want to make something hard as a rock and strong, but damn, some of the users are like scientologists in their passion for the stuff. Seriously, I went to a couple paverpol events and I felt like they were trying to convert me.

Battlestar Galactica and Geek Chic

2008-05-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

As most of my friends have already heard ad nauseum, I am in major love with Battlestar Galactica. This crush is new and like most crushes, it is all consuming. I am very late on the BSG Bandwagon, even though my gut told me over a year ago I should watch it. It is referenced by my favorite shows, hell Veronica Mars adopts Frak into her lexicon in Season 3. I should have known that a show that Rob Thomas and Joss Whedon love would be a show for me. It is no surprise that they love the show either, Both VM and BtVS feature tough, sarcastic, clever girls and BSG takes it to a whole new level with Starbuck, the bad ass female fighter pilot.

Anyway, my favorite thing in the world right now is to sit in my nice big bed (i just got it back now that guests are gone) and crochet flowers while following the crew of BSG. I am a nerd. I must embrace this, and as I have told my father, it is Geek Chic, I am not turning into a trekkie.

Hi Mom!

2008-04-24T12:31:00.003-07:00

Yayyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom has joined Ravelry! Uh Oh, now my mom can find my super cheesy blog.

I don't really have that much yarn, and my DVD collection is quite small ;)

Visitors aka Omigod I never knew I was so messy

2008-04-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

So My Grandmother and her friend are visiting for a week beginning tonight and I am panicking. I have spent the last two weeks cleaning and organizing my very messy apartment. I can see the floors now. My framed pictures are all hung. 2/3rds of my yarn collection is hidden :) My DVD Box Set collection is faux fronted with my insanely large collection of books (I've only lived here for 3 years but the Strand is dangerous). My magazines are organized and bundled, ready for recycling on Saturday. My apartment has never been so clean.

Now, because I cannot clean without a distraction and frequent breaks, here is what I have been doing to make this happen. I have rediscovered crocheting. I went to the Japanese bookstore near Bryant Park and went crazy in the craft section. If you are able to find them, the Japanese craft books are sooooo much better than the standard American ones. The projects are more stylish and even though all the words are in Japanese, the charts and pictures are so much clearer. I also inherited my grandmother's (the other one) Crochet Magic magazines, which also use charts rather than words, and has some pretty awesome projects for a magazine that was published in the 80's.

As far as television goes I have been flip flopping between episodes of Joan of Arcadia, Buffy, and my new one Battlestar Galactica. Buffy is obviously awesome, but Joan of Arcadia was a surprising favorite. I wanted to hate it but after I met Amber Tamblin in person, I Netflixed and loved it. The couples could not have been cuter and Joan could not have been cooler. But this is not the new discovery, Battlestar Galactica is. My father thinks I am turning into a trekkie, I have been trying to tell him that it is Geek Chic. So far I love it. Starbuck is a bad ass and Appolo and Helo are adorable. I treat this show as my reward after hours of cleaning.

Lastly, I just finished reading Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer. For a book about catastrophic disaster, it is surprisingly satisfying. Make sure you do not read the end on the subway though, because you will be crying like a baby.

A Few of my favorite things

2008-04-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a while. I am a slacker blogger because I am not sure if anyone reads this. Anyway...

Yesterday I met Julie Andrews at a book signing for her new book Home: A Memoir of My Early Years. I was one of 150 people who got our books signed at the Union Square Barnes and Noble. She spoke with each and every person in the line, even though she was unable to personalize the books. Unfortunately I am a big spaz at book signings. I never know what to say, and most of the time say something silly or awkward, and this time was no exception. Julie Andrews was only #1 on my list of people I would want to meet so I was shaking like crazy and stuttering over my words. Hopefully she saw so many people she will forget, but I will always have the memory of her speaking directly to me in that legendary voice and that is what is really important. I did manage to say a few nice things about how much her movies mean to me and my family and got a book for my sister signed, a surprise late birthday present for her.

April appears to be family month. I saw my Aunt from California for the first time in years last night, in town for a spanish wine event. My grandmother is visiting at the month for a doll event. In preparation for her visit I got a new sofa and a new bed. YAY!!! My apartment is looking like a real home rather than a glorified dorm room. The sofa is my new favorite thing, bright red, bouncy, cushy, and huge.

My craftiness is totally genetic passed down from my grandmothers and mom. My grandmother on my mom's side owns half a doll shop and has been making porcelain dolls for years. She pours the molds, fires them in her kiln, makes the clothes, paints the faces, everything. My grandmother on my father's side was a prolific textile crafter. She liked to spin, knit, crochet and sew. She recently passed away and I went to Florida to spend some time with my dad and grandfather and learned some of the extent of her crafting. Her spinning wheel is now residing in Brooklyn with me. Although the reason for th trip was sad, the trip itself was very rewarding. It is a treat to see my dad more than once a year. My grandfather is very fun. He taught me all about oranges and tangerines which he grows in his yard. He juices and freezes enough orange juice to have it all year, and let me tell you, it is amazing. I hate orange juice normally, but fresh squeezed is so sweet and tastes like soccer practice, green grass and afternoon showers. My dad and I ate tangerines right off the tree in the front yard and I always say, I don't like a lot of fruit unless I am eating it outside with my dad. Cherries can only be eaten with my dad on the back porch.

My Little Pony

2008-02-26T06:50:00.001-08:00

I finally finished J's Christmas gift two months later! I think it is awesome, H thinks it looks like My Little Pony.

Because I don't have enough hobbies...

2008-02-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have started spinning yarn. Ravelry has led me down the rabbit hole of ridiculously addictive fiber arts. There is this one designer Brooklyntweed, who not only makes amazing knit designs but spins yarn, that normally I wouldn't like because the colors are brown or tan, but because he takes AMAZING pictures of it I have this insane desire to also spin yarn. I told this to a few people at work and found out the Y spins with a drop spindle and agreed to teach me before I went completely off the deep end buying supplies whithout knowing whether or not I enjoyed it. Well, I did enjoy it. So now I am the proud owner of not just one but TWO Kundert drop spindles and the babysitter/stepmother of J's Louet S10 spinning wheel.I have already spun up 4 ounces of gold Merino into a light fingering weight on one of the drop spindles. Here are some pictures of it.

The roving and spindles came from The Yarn Tree in Brooklyn.

This next batch has not gotten much further than what you see here but it is Louet Northern Lights Pencil Roving in "Popsicle" colorway. I got it from the Copper Moose website.

This is what I have to say about the Strike...

2007-11-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

http://gawker.com/news/sad-children/striking-stagehands-hate-your-kids-325391.php

Starting my Store

2007-11-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend I am starting a 2007 crafters rite of passage. I am starting my Etsy shop! My user name and shop name is Theatrical.

Over the past year I have been making these cards in my spare time, and finally I am putting them for sale. Take a look.

Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool

2007-10-23T08:58:00.001-07:00

This weekend Leila and I went to the NY Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck. It was amazing. We left early Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening. Leila rented the coolest little red car. This this was brilliant red and had 120 miles on it. CRAZY!

After getting mildly lost a few times (let's here it for my sense of direction or lack there of!) we made it up to Kingston where we first attempted to find our hotel. We were lacking any city map and map quest was on crack when it gave us directions so we stopped at the little red trolley that said visitors center. The damn thing was locked and I think it killed Leila a little because there were quite a few informative brochures she could have collected. Finally someone saw us and gave us directions, although we still went the wrong way once more.

We found the motel and then set out to find the festival across the river. On the way there we found a mall, Walmart and Michaels. YAY! It sounds lame but Walmart has the cheapest aluminum knitting needles. So after we got that out of our system we got across the river. We stopped at a very cute roadside burger stand.

At the festival we split up and Leila went antiquing and I ran around the festival scoping everything out. I ran into Aryn and bought lots of yarn. I made a metal list of maybe's and met back up with Leila. We hit a pizza place recommended by Blueprint Blog and then sprawled out exhausted in the motel room.

The next day we returned, I finished my yarn buying and met some Llamas, Alpacas,and Mohair bunnies. None of which I was allergic too! This is a small miracle.

The ride back took us, I kid you not, about 6 hours. We stopped in Red Hook to have Ice Cream at Holy Cow, the cheapest ice cream ever, also recommended by the Blueprint Blog. We stopped in Rhinebeck at the general store for more cheap aluminum double pointed knitting needles. It is here that we discovered that every dog in Rhinebeck is adorable.

Going south we drove past FDR's old house and the old Vanderbilt mansion (Oh my god). The culinary institute is AMAZING. It made me think of Lyra's Oxford but in NY.

I got to stop at the house I was almost born in. The area was amazing, acres and acres of orange and red trees.

We finally got back around 8:45 that night.

All in all an amazing weekend. I can't wait for next year.

RENT #8, 9, 10, 11, and 12

2007-09-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

So during the months of September and October Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal returned to their roles of Mark and Roger in RENT. I couldn't resist playing the lottery as much as I could to try and see them and was lucky enough to see it 5 times. I was obsessed.

Here is my rundown of their recent return to RENT.

Adam Pascal is sexy as hell and I could watch him sing and jump off tables in plaid pants all day long. He and Tamyra Gray were fantastic together. His little dance during "I'm Roger" was priceless. It was hysterical to watch him goofing off with Angel during Over the Moon.

Anthony Rapp is fantastic and should be my new best friend. It was so much fun to see his spaz dancing in person. He and Adam have amazing chemistry, you can tell that they are close friends. The tension between them at the end was incredible.

The crowd at the Nederlander while they were back, was so much better than the crowd a year ago. I met so many nice people teaming up for lottery or chatting at intermission.

Yes, I got a lot of crap for spending so much time trying to get tickets, but they were cheap, and I could not have had a better time doing anything else.

RENT my history

2007-09-26T09:12:00.001-07:00

So I am a bit of a RENT head and proud of it. Back in 1996 when articles first started making their way to Colorado Springs my mother brought them to my attention. I was groomed from childhood to desire a bohemian NY life. The baby picture my parents chose to put in my yearbook shows me wearing my favorite NY T-shirt that was lost on the flight to Colorado when I was 4. She would tell me all about Greenwich Village and how bohemian and NY cool it was. Initially she thought I would appreciate, and I did/do the costumes. Funky, bright, outrageous and mismatched, sparkly and totally my style. I would pour over articles from the Denver Post and Newsweek. Reading over and over about this cool, passionate, unknown rock and roll cast and the tragedy of Jonathan Larson's death. I taped and watched the 20/20 episode about Jonathan Larson about 100 times rewinding and listening to the short sound clips over and over because there was no CD yet. All of this made me long to be a New Yorker, not just by birth (I was born here) but I wanted to be one of the teenagers waiting all night for rush tickets and living in the big, bad, scary, exciting city.

That summer I took my first trip by myself to NJ to visit my grandparents. I was 15 and at the start of my musical theatre obsession. My grandparents knew I wanted to go to Broadway and managed to get me tickets to RENT that August with the original cast and all. I don't actually remember much from that night except that I thought the building was really cool (lime green), the music was amazing, and that the girls in the front row were close enough to get spit on by Adam Pascal. I was a naive 15 year old and it took years before I realized how drop dead sexy Adam Pascal is in RENT. That night I bought a T-shirt and the large poster. I had to wait till Christmas that year to get the CD because it was still not released when I saw the show. I still wear the T-shirt to bed and love that it is full of holes. The Poster, which is no longer available, is framed on my wall.

Later that trip I got to see Miss Saigon. I got my first lesson in TKTS by going with my grandparents to the World Trade Center to get tickets. Miss Saigon was incredible of course. I am a sucker for the big melodramatic Webber musical and was able to get that CD immediately. Although this show was awesome too, RENT had made the biggest, most lasting impression.

Irregulars

2007-09-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

I heart the Kiki Strike books by Kristen Miller. The two books follow the adventures of a band of smart, sarcastic, Girl Scout rejects as they explore and defend NYC. Their adventures are the kind I would day dream about while working summers at the zoo or painting sets in high school. Their attitude is one that I always wished I had, pretended I had, but in reality was too practical to embody. The best part is they are well written and clearly from an older standpoint. The language is sophisticated and doesn't dumb itself down to mimic a teen voice. I hate when adults write teen fiction and insert "like" into every other sentence to sound like a teenager. Here are the covers so you can easily recognize them at the book store...

The First Book

The Second Book

I must admit that kid and teen books are a guilty pleasure that regularly indulge after reading a few good true-life NY books or autobiography/memoirs.

If you want more info on Kiki Strike go to www.kikistrike.com and pay particular attention to Annika's blog which is chock full of weird stuff. I soent hours googling the stuff I read about on that blog.

Say something, Anything

2007-09-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

So I am testing this whole blogging thing. I like reading them so much that I thought I might like making my own. Unlike all of the NY and knitting themed blogs I like so much, I am a bit more A.D.D. so this blog will contain anything and everything that interests me, bugs me, anything I am creating, my slow meandering journey towards starting my own business, and my thoughts about where and what I want to be when I "grow up". Here goes something...