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

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

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!

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

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

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.

Hocus Pocus!

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

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