Life in Sarahland

Matching Hands and Feet

2011-11-02T01:34:00.000-04:00

Autumn in New England is ever-changing; crisp days, cool nights, a freak snow storm (seriously that was not cool - I am not ready for snow). I thought before I had to bust out the serious hand knits that I would be able to use these new mitts at least a little. Actually I have been wearing them more indoors than out. I have one of those apartments with steam radiator heat and if it's not cold outside then the heat doesn't kick in and the apartment is just a bit nippy. These mitts do the trick, keep my hands warm but fingers free for typing, fast-forwarding thru commercials on the DVR etc....

The pattern is Elphaba knit in Knitpicks Felici. I am such a sucker for self-striping yarn. Super straight-forward pattern and the only mod I made was to add an additional 12 stitches since I have big hands. They fit great. I would show you in a picture but it is freakishly hard to take a photo of your own hands.

They took just about a skein to knit and then I was left with another skein just sitting there mocking me. So I decided to make a pair of anklets. While I was pretty precise in getting the mitts to match I didn't really care on the socks. I knit these toe-up because I wasn't sure how far my yarn would go and since the anklets were going to be pretty easy I figured I may as well try out an afterthought heel for the first time to up my degree of difficulty as it were. It was not hard to do at all really and it keeps the striping going unlike a big heel flap.

Check out my brand spanking new sock blockers I picked up on my recent trip to Webs.

I Was a Knitting Moron

2011-09-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

I present my Coralicious Socks knit in the Piedmont Wildsocks yarn I bought while in California. They really should not have taken as long as they did but I had a touch of the moron that slowed down their creation. I tried knitting them as Artichoke socks and after knitting over 4 inches there was no denying it they looked like crap. Maybe the yarn was meant to be toe-up socks so I tried Victory Socks - about 3 inches knit, again crap. Seriously what was going wrong? Was I screwing up when doing a yarn over between a knit and purl stitch? So I hit the you tube videos and the truth was enlightening and embarrassing. Somehow I had forgotten how to do a simple yarn over. I had been doing them in the wrong direction. I have done yarn overs before, lots of them. No problems. Honestly!

So I started fresh with the frogged yarn rewound and a new pattern picked out. And lo and behold - not crap!

I know I've mentioned before how freaky my feet are but seriously check out how much wider my right foot is!

Yikes!.

2011-07-20T15:48:00.001-04:00

They are organizing..., a photo by Sarahland on Flickr.

I am a bit overwhelmed by all the zucchini and squash I am getting in my CSA.

Toe-Up Stripey Goodness

2011-06-25T10:50:00.000-04:00

Yay! A finished project. These are my Toe-Up Stripey Noro Socks and I love them. I even kept knitting them higher than I normally wear my socks because I loved seeing the colors change and contrast with the black.

They are far from perfect. there some serious color jag issues in spots and yet, still love them. I love them because they fit just right and because they are my first toe-up socks and because I figured out Judy's Magic Cast-On (which is freakin' brilliant, by the way) and because I knit them while I was visiting Ariel and because the second sock flew off my needles within days and because it was cool that flight attendants would stop by my seat and ask about them and compliment the socks (and therefore me) and because Noro is just so damn pretty.

The details: Wendy's Fingering Weight Toe-Up Socks with Gusset Heel in Noro Kureyon Sock (left over from my sister's socks) and Valley Yarns Huntington.

Sights of San Francisco

2011-06-22T20:40:00.002-04:00

I took a whole slew of photos of San Francisco and I thought I'd share a few. If you want to see them all head to my flickr stream here.

Knitting Out West

2011-06-17T16:54:00.001-04:00

Greetings! I am back from my trip to West Coast to visit the fabulous Ariel. It was my first time to the San Francisco/Oakland area and it was great. A wonderful mix of sight-seeing, eating, imbibing and knitting. Since this is a knitting blog,I figured this first post will focus on the knitting bits.
My first day there we popped into Article Pract in Oakland. A wonderful store with a large variety of yarn, really helpful staff and they were having a sale. A sale on ALL yarn. Really, it would have been simply rude to not buy anything. (I am all about the good manners.) As much as I love stripey and variegated sock yarns, I realized that for certain patterns I really need to have some nice solid tonal yarns in my stash. This madelinetosh sock is so soft and the color just so heavenly.

A trip to the Mission had to include a stop at ImagiKnit. A big store with a huge variety of yarns, where I think I was so overwhelmed I walked away empty-handed. But being the good friend that I am, I did find perfect green yarn that she simply I knew Ariel would be unable to resist. I can spot Ariel green's and orange's from a good 15 feet away.

I really wanted "souvenir yarn" something either spun or dyed local so we hit up Piedmont Yarn for some of their hand-dyed Piedmont Wildsocks. I am pretty certain I already have the pattern chosen for this yarn. Stay tuned...

Even better than the new yarn, it was so wonderful just to hang out with Ariel and knit. It reminded me how much I miss knitting with others. Our weekly group kind of faded away a while back and while I have seen some of my knittah's socially we haven't sat and knit together for a long time. Ariel and I would pull out our socks and knit all over the place. We scoured projects on ravelry together when we discovered a shawl pattern we loved from someone we met at Article Pract. I may have even have been molested by some of her stash. (I am working hard to repress that memory). We chatted with one sweet woman on BART whose husband was very well-trained to feign interest in the difference between DPN's and circulars. Nearly any time we stopped to rest our weary feet out came the knitting. A fellow knitter understands that we are not leaving the cafe in North Beach until I have finished turning the heel. I loved when one of her friends asked us how we knew each other and Ariel said simply "knitting". The look on his face was one of such confusion, it was priceless. One evening after a lot of walking, Ariel said "How 'bout wine, knitting and Firefly?" and I could not imagine anything better.

My sock in progress while enjoying an afternoon beer.

Fabric Napkins with Freezer Paper Stencils

2011-03-28T11:35:00.001-04:00

I kept meaning to whip up some cloth napkins but it was one of those fleeting thoughts that never occurred to me when I was someplace that sold fabric. But I actually remembered when I visited Gather Here on their opening day. Gather Here is just adorable; fabric and sewing patterns that makes me wish I was a better sewer, pretty yarn, inviting space to sit and stitch, just a really lovely store. If you're in the Cambridge, Mass area - go there. I was so overwhelmed by all the pretty that it was hard to restrain myself to only buy some fabric that I had an immediate use for. But I was good and only bought some Kona Cotton in a gorgeous shade that matches the blues in my kitchen just wonderfully.

I can manage to sew a straight line (sort of) so sewing up the napkins wasn't that hard. I think the ironing and pinning took longer than the actual sewing They needed a bit of something so I decided to try freezer paper stencils for the first time. I made two of a silverware place setting and two of artichokes. Oddly enough, the artichokes with far more cuts and chances for things to go wrong came out better than the relatively simple silverware. Who knew?

Gifts for My Niece that Aren't Zoobles

2011-01-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen a Zooble? They are these little round plastic balls that pop out into animals and they were the hip toy for the 6 year-old set this winter. My niece pointed them out to me at a toy store when I asked what she wanted and I took one look at them and said "Yeah, someone else will get you those." And they did. At no point, was the small child deprived of Zoobles. But to be honest, they creep me out. I am pretty sure if you look at them too long they will try to steal your soul, just sayin'.

So I got her something that I always liked, a kaleidoscope. Actually a make your own nature kaleidoscope kit. It came with rocks and dried flowers and glass gems but you can change what's in it whenever you want. We put it together over the holidays and it made really pretty views. I wanted to see if I could get a few pics by sticking my camera to the eye hole and it worked. Here are a few of my favorite shots just because I think they look neat.

I also wanted to make something for my niece so she said she wanted a new hat, as long as it had a pompom. I made the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat (a free ravelry download ). It's got a little bit of colorwork but it's a real quick knit that I naturally did not finish in time for the holidays and now I just need to get it to her. I mostly knit the pattern as-is and just made mods on the detail work. I added a single crochet edging, made the ties braids instead of i-cords and added a pompom of course.

Holy crap, it's been how long?

2011-01-04T23:46:00.000-05:00

Whoops, guess who hasn't blogged for a long while? Truth is I didn't have a whole lot to say (insert sister's snickering here) and most of my knitting was for the holidays so I couldn't show anything. But I have re-emerged and hope to blog more often in the new year. I would like to take more photos and cook more in the new year so you may see some fancy pics of beet risotto or at least more veggies with googly eyes.

So now let's do some knitting project catch-up. A few years back, I knit my brother a scarf. It was a really nice scarf, it had cables and it was the first thing I had ever knit for him. So last year I noticed on a cold day that he wasn't wearing it or any scarf. I mentioned it casually to my mom and she said, "He lost it and he's afraid to tell you". While striking fear into my brother's heart would have at one point given me a sick thrill I guess we both must have matured at some point by not wanting to inflict pain on each other. The scarf was lost on one of those odd Boston days when you walk out of the house and it's cold only to have the temperature swing by 25 degrees in a few hours and having a super long wool scarf wrapped around your neck while on the T (Boston's subway) is torture. So the scarf somehow disappeared and joined the ranks of other things gone missing on the T, I myself must have contributed half a dozen umbrellas to the T lost & found over the years. So my brother got a new scarf, the Shale Pleated Scarf knit in Ultra Alpaca. It has a really nice texture when knit up and the only mods I made were to knit it on needles one size down to make it a bit denser to block out the winter winds. The color is a much darker navy than what appears in the photo.

For my brother-in-law, I knit a pair of the Pirate Mittens (it's a free download on ravelry) to go with last year's pirate hat. I followed the pattern to go up in yarn size and I went up in needles and they still won't fit him unless we cut off his fingers down a knuckle or two. So I officially owe him a project of his choosing. Maybe a nice scarf perhaps? They tend to fit well. Something silly and geek related? So here are photos of the too-small mittens which I am sure someone will wear...someday.

I decided my sister would appreciate the gift of hand-knit socks. There was a bit of a false start, it's amazing how a nice yarn and a good pattern can result in something that gives you motion sickness while knitting it. I knit about an itch into the pattern saying "she'll either love it or hate it but I sure as hell hate it" and had to stop. So putting that yarn aside for another day, I went back to one of those basic yarn facts, my sister loves her some Noro and she loves stripey socks. So off to Mind's Eye Yarn I went to pick up Noro Sock yarn. While there Lucy reminded me why LYS' are so awesome by helping me split my skein into halves. What was likely to have been stressful and frustrating at home (Noro sock yarn twists onto itself a lot) was a much more pleasant experience in her cozy shop chatting with other knitters . (Note to self: a scale for yarn would be awful handy to have). The socks don't match each other at all but luckily for me I know that my sister probably prefers totally mismatched stripes.

Look Who Came Home!

2010-10-15T09:00:00.003-04:00

It's my mojo, it seemed to find its way back home. At first I thought it smelled the yummy butternut squash soup I was making or it wanted shelter before the Nor'easter hit town but then I remembered what really brought it scampering home.

I won a contest over Talk Crafty To Me , after several days of recapping all sorts of craft books to inspire you there was a contest for a $25 Amazon gift card to spend on some crafty books and I won! I have had
The Big Ass Book of Crafts in my amazon wish list for a long time so I think I may finally get that. And we all know that I love me some knitted toys and I have admired Rebecca Danger's monsters for a while now so I am pretty excited for her book Big Book of Knitted Monsters that is coming out in January. Any other must have craft books that people out there just adore?

I also think my mojo came back because it knew Ariel was headed to town. Arriving 24 hours earlier than I expected (not that she arrived early just that I am a bit of an idiot), we have already spent some of those 24 hours eating awesome burgers, drinking cocktails with names like The Ditzy Blond and The Petite Flower and plotting a possible trip to Webs. A good day by all standards. Only a true knitting friend understands the importance when you say you are contemplating a sweater (really it's been ages since I did a big project) and it involves steeking.

O' Where O' Where Did My Mojo Go?

2010-10-12T20:20:00.000-04:00

Somewhere in the past month or so I lost my knitting mojo. Actually not just my knitting mojo but my mojo in general. Friends moving away, people you care for in pain, the days getting shorter....sigh. I am not even sure I lost my mojo. I think that it ran away and is currently riding the rails with a red handkerchief tied to a stick over its shoulder. (Yes, my mojo is a 1930's hobo, what of it?)

There are some good tidings coming soon because my pal Ariel is heading to town and I sense there will be some knttin', eatin', drinkin' fun to be had.

But in the meantime I figured I'd think of some stuff that tickles my fancy and maybe entice my mojo to come home where I have homemade applesauce waiting for it.

Apparently pickling is contagious. My sister started it, then me and now my brother has joined the bandwagon and made a batch which were apparently awesome. Even my dad is considering pickling the green tomatoes that they had to take in when they had a frost up in Maine. For some reason this really makes me giggle since even though I know that my dad can cook, the image of him using measuring spoons is such a weird one.He is definitely a shaker top his spices directly onto a slab of meat kind of guy.

Getting tickets to the Amy Sedaris reading in November. Amy Sedaris is coming to town to do a reading for my local bookstore and tickets went quickly. When I called they had only 8 left and I was glad to snag 2. I think she is so funny and wacky and we share a love of the googly eyes so that must make us kindred spirits. I think if I pick up a copy of her new book Simple Times:Crafts for Poor People, my mojo will respond well to that.

Weekly Photo Assignments at Smarts & Crafts.com I am not sure when I started reading the blog of this San Francisco store. I am sure that it was mentioned on some other blog I read. The store looks so cool and I will totally visit when/if I get out that way. But what I really like is that each week they give out weekly photo assignments. Assignments are things like "something orange" or "something sweet" or "your morning coffee". I don't manage to do it every week but I try to keep the assignment in the back of my head and remember to throw my camera in my bag and it forces me to stop and take pictures of things I normally wouldn't (i.e. not yarn or yarn based items). And I like to look at the other people's photos to see how they interpreted it. Assignments are given out on Fridays when the previous week's photos are posted.

And of course, squash with google eyes.

In a bit of a Pickle

2010-09-02T12:19:00.000-04:00

It seems all summer blogs I've been reading have had someone pickling stuff, craft blogs, knitting blogs everyone must have had their gardens run over with cucumbers. So when my CSA share started to fill up with cukes that just looked like they were born to pickle I knew what I had to do...read more blogs. I have never pickled anything before so I have no idea what I was doing.

I read a gazillion recipes and although my sister had decided to go with the tried and true voice of Alton Brown I followed the recipe of the one of my food blogs I really enjoy but never actually make any of the recipes. So using Coconut & Lime's recipe I made my first refrigerator pickles and pickled green beans. Actually made I made them last week but I wanted to wait until tasted them I boasted of my pickle prowess. And it turns out I rock, the beans are really yummy and dilly and crisp. Now that I have a whole bunch of jars and spices I am eyeing everything and thinking "Can I pickle that?"

Ubiquitous Baby Knits

2010-08-20T08:00:00.003-04:00

I've got some friends who are knocked up so it's time to work on some knits for the wee ones. My usual go-to is a toy but I figured I'd go for something different. Well, different for me, really these are some of the most knit patterns out there and you know why? Because they are so frakkin' cute.

This set is for my college roommate who is not due until October so it is really odd of me to be so ahead of the game. Everything is knit with Tahki Cotton Classic with just a bit of Knit Picks Shine Sport of the green parts.

The Kid's Fruit Cap - I figure we can say it's a blueberry. The hat seems amazingly small to me but after putting out a call to my friends on facebook asking them to compare newborn heads to various fruits i.e. melons, grapefruits etc...it probably is not too small after all.

Saatje Booties (although I actually used the Fleegle Seamless Version - because avoiding seaming is always better) Yes, the buttons are little blue apples and as far as I know there are no blue apples but hey, they are cute and I was sticking with the fruit theme. And buying them gave me an excuse to go Windsor Button and hang out at the counter fondling the Malabrigo lace weight.

Camp LiSaLa

2010-08-08T22:20:00.001-04:00

It all started over a sushi dinner with my friends Lisa and Laurel. I mentioned how my niece was going to Girl Scout Camp and had come home with her sit-upon and my sister mentioned this on her facebook page and all sorts of people chimed in about summer crafts of their youth. This began a conversation that had to go for almost a half hour of all the things we made. We decided we needed a camp craft day to relive our youth and really I just love any excuse to play with googly eyes and pompoms.

First Lisa and I took a trip to the craft store where we went a little crazy picking up some supplies.

We did some tried and true classics like corn husk dolls jersey loop potholders, god's eyes and gimp lanyards (somehow managed to not snap a picture of the lanyards or god's eyes - I blame the Moscow Mules Lisa mixed up instead of taking responsibility for my slacking off on photo-taking)

I was disappointed when I had gone to the supermarket in preparation for craft day and they didn't have a macaroni letters. So I had to decorate my picture frame with this new fangled sparkly letters instead. But on the plus side, I was able to sneak some googly eyes on them.

Then our new pompom pals took a stroll in the backyard to sun themselves on a leaf and make some new friends.

A simply great day with wonderful weather, tasty food and drink, amazing company and googly eyes. Really what else could a girl ask for? I am thinking a second session of camp may be in order since this one was so much fun and we still have 990 popsicle sticks to use up!

Odds and Ends

2010-07-23T16:02:00.000-04:00

I swear this recent sock-knitting binge is going to end soon, I mean it has to, doesn't it? I was looking through my stash and figured I could eek out a pair of anklets from the leftovers of my Endpaper Mitts project. The pattern is the Pom Pom Peds knit up in Valley Yarn's Huntington. I was so concerned that I was going to run out of the grey that I started the toe on the first sock a bit early and the sock is a teensy bit short. And did I run out of yarn, noooo, of course there's still some leftover.

I then had to decide on what to cast on next. I was on ravelry playing around with all the new pattern categories and found this super simple crochet necklace. I dug down into the big old Rubbermaid tub of stash and found this bag of gold and silver metallic yarns that my grandma had given me. To put in perspective how long this stuff has been kicking around her place I am pretty certain some of the thicker gold yarn was used to make my Barbie a very fabulous skirt/sweater set with matching set of luggage. In the bag there was some thin silver almost thread weight yarn and with some beads from the bead stash, voila! a super simple necklace made up of three strands. I like it so much I can actually see myself wearing it out of the house (I have a bad tendency to make jewelry and then never wear it - stupid, stupid, stupid). Anyway, I am pretty glad to have actually use some of grandma's yarn - she will be thrilled to know I got some use out of it.

Too Hot to Knit

2010-07-11T19:58:00.000-04:00

Hi, I would have written this post sooner but it's been hot and humid and sticky and icky for quite a few days now and I don't deal with heat all that well sometimes. It makes me cranky and sleep funny and I forget to eat and then get crankier and a bit woozy because I forgot to eat. I am also pretty sure a large portion of my blood stream has been replaced with a mix of iced coffee and iced tea. Yes, I realize that the large intake of iced caffeinated beverages may have something to do with the sleeping funny thing but we'll ignore that for now -I am pretty sure logic does not survive in high humidity. But today is cooler and my CSA veggies have been washed and tucked in to their crispers so now I can post.

I spent the 4th of July weekend up in Maine. Luckily I was not told about the recent bear sighting on my folks front lawn until after I was already up there or I may have begged off. It was one of those "Didn't we tell you about the bear? Your brother knows about the bear." I get to hear about the trip to Costco so my Dad can get white fish but they forget to mention a bear!! Apparently some crankiness lingers....maybe I should have another iced coffee. Anyway....I saw no bears just the usual finch and chickadees and a special treat.

A robin had build her nest on the edge of the garage and we spend the first few days checking up her three baby birdies, we watched Mama come by with some tasty food, and then them venturing out on the ledge and stretching their wings. But when we woke up on the 4th we discovered two of the birdies had their own independence day of sorts and had taken off. Leaving just one little birdie, sulking that he had been left all alone.

Don't worry by the end of the day he too had left to join his Mama and siblings up in the trees somewhere.

Back in knitting news, I finished up yet another pair of socks. Seriously, they are the crack of the knitting world. I may need an intervention. This time it's Spring Forward knit in TOFUtsies. I think a solid colorway may show off the pattern better but I since this is mainly a non-wool yarn I am excited that I may actually be able to wear a pair of my hand-knit socks sometime before October although clearly not for a while.

Here my sock takes in the view of the lake from the deck. Trust me there's a lake out there past the trees.

My friend Lisa came back from Maryland Sheep and Wool a few months back with beautiful raw silk from Tess Designer Yarns and cast on right away to knit Summit. Turns out they have a retail shop in Portland. Cut to me spending a large amount of time admiring the beautiful colors and chatting away with the dyer herself (not Tess by the way), Melinda. I really went in with the mindset to buy some of the raw silk to knit up Summit myself since I just adore the pattern and have had it queued since it that edition of knitty came out. But somehow I ended up with this GORGEOUS 100% silk in this fabulous brass colorway as a belated b-day gift from my mom. It has less yardage than the raw silk so I may make a smaller version of Summit or find another pattern or just clutch it close to me muttering "precious" as I did for the first few hours after I got it. Really the picture does not do it justice it is luminous and so amazing to touch.....

Sarah's Crafty Calendar - Summer Edition

2010-06-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

So I was chatting with some of my knitting friends and mentioned how there were some crafty events coming up and totally confusing myself on which one was on which day and where so I figured I'd organize myself so I don't miss anything as I recently did with the Coolidge Corner Art Fest :( and share the details with my peeps.

Sowa Open Market - every Sunday crafty delights in South Boston/South End. While there are some local farmers and bakeries who set up there really is not a lot of food so get lunch at some place fabulous in the South End first. (May I suggest the crab cakes at Stephi's on Tremont?) Check the site to make sure they're not closed on holidays and for directions and parking (yes, parking!) details. Oh, and for some folks who I know head to Rhode Island quite a bit, they do have a sister market in Providence.

Boston Handmade Marketplace - July 10 Union Square, Somerville. I've never been to this small market but there be live music and demos from the Common Cod Fiber Guild (of which I am a member) so go learn how to knit or spin or appreciate wooly goodness!

Art Beat - July 17th - Davis Square Yes, it's going to be hot it always is, but just cool yourself off with a mango lassi from Dali and enjoy the music, crafts, activities for kids (if you're into that kind of thing) and food. Yummy, yummy food. Davis Square restaurants set up shop in carts on the street so you can get your Redbones pulled pork sandwich while walking.

Boston Bazaar Bizarre Summer Fair - August 21, Union Square Somerville I believe this is their first summer fair but their winter show is always such so fun and have artists I really like that I am excited they are doing a warm weather fest.

There all nice and neat.

Seriously, another Knit Chicken?

2010-06-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

Clearly I have a problem. (And to my sister who had the thought "Just one?" a second ago, I'll get you for that, beware you may be forced to laugh at something so hard a beverage comes out your nose.) Anyway, back to my problem, it's the damn knit toys! I can't stop making them. I see this pattern by Susan B. Anderson for chickens and I think that's a cute pattern. But nothing I really need to make. But then looking through the projects on ravelry I see the chicken made with these great charts that a ravelry user has been so gracious as to put up on her blog.

There is something about the colors and the wing pattern that reminds me of this set of chicken knick-knack things that my grandmother used to have on top of her fridge and suddenly I really wanted to make this bird. Ah, nostalgia. The fact that I happened to have all the colors I needed just hanging around in my stash made it a done deal.

Since the last thing I need is another stuffed animal in my place and he's a bit too country to fit with my style the chicken will soon be crossing the road and traveling up to Maine to enjoy the simple life of my folks place there.

The charts are available here at rav member, ElleM's blog. You still need to buy the original pattern, the blog just has the charts for the stranded design.

I would say this is the last toy I will be knitting for a while but my mom just asked if I'd make a toy for the grand-daughter of one of her friends. And seriously can I stop knitting toys for longer than a few months? Apparently not.

Oops, I Did It Again

2010-05-24T18:05:00.000-04:00

Crazy as it sounds, well at least to me, I knit a second pair of socks. And again,I enjoyed it, this may become a habit. I dug down into my stash and found my Flying Happy Jenny yarn. I think this yarn had been waiting to be made into socks and I just didn't know it until now. It is Knitpicks Bare, that Jenny had dyed for me a few years ago.

Based on recommendations from my sock-loving friends I knit Charade, a super popular sock pattern. It's a a free ravelry download so click here to check it out. You know why it's a super popular? Because it's a really good pattern. It's easy to memorize, keeps you interested, looks great, an all-around good pattern. I made a few tweaks just to adjust for my weird feet and they fit amazingly well. I also made the cuff a bit shorter because I don't really like tall socks and I used an eye of partridge heel just because I kept reading people mention it in the rav forums and wanted to see what the difference was between the other heel I did. I think it's just a bit prettier and I am sure there is something about how the heel wears but since it's 80 degrees here I am not wearing these soon to test that out.

A Place to Hang my Hat

2010-05-11T17:46:00.001-04:00

Just over a year ago I saw this diy project for cute hooks on Design*Sponge, one of my favorite design blogs. I figured that seems like something I can do and put it in the back of my head for future reference.

Then I went to Brimfield last May and picked up the vintage hooks I could use for this. Spring turned to summer, summer to fall and yada yada yada. Last month I finally got to a big old home improvement store to get some wood and have it cut to size. Annoyingly none of my small hardware stores sell lumber or cut it down if needed. Oh did I remember to buy screws to fit in the hooks while I was there? Of course not, back to the local hardware store I go. Then I had to buy cute paper. I had seen something I liked at Paper Source and now of course it was gone, so I checked another store, also gone. Grrrr.... For a straight forward project with not many materials I sure was was hitting a lot of stores.

So I took to the internet and started looking for pretty wrapping papers, I wanted something with red and it seemed everything was Christmas-y or just fugly. Then I came across Smock Paper located in upstate NY they print on bamboo paper and are amazingly eco-conscious and most importantly have gorgeous stuff! I checked to see if any local stores carried their products and turns out there were a couple including a really cute paper store that I had no idea existed in Beacon Hill, Rugg Road Paper Company. After looking at all their yummy papers I still ended up going with the Blossom paper from Smock.

Really, buying the materials was so much more of an ordeal then the actual project. I pretty much followed the tutorial to the letter except I did decide to seal my paper with Modge Podge. Yet another trip out for supplies since all I had on hand is gloss Modge Podge and I really wanted a matte finish.

I modge podge, I drill, I screw and I am done! All ready to hammer to the wall. I take out the tool box and I don't have nails long enough! Seriously?!? One last trip to the hardware store and now it is really done! Yay!!!

Look at My Foot!

2010-04-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

My trip to the Dark Side is complete, I have finished my first pair of socks. And *gasp* I enjoyed it.

I definitely did learn a bit along the way. They are a teeny bit big since I was so afraid of them being too small. They are definitely not perfect, the first one has a serious pointy toe. Oh and how does one get that last stitch when you're doing the kitchener stitch to be tight? I seem to always end up with that last loop flying around. Then on the second one I was about half-way through kitchener'ing (that's a verb right?) when I realized I was doing it the wrong direction and would only have worked if my toes were moved by 90 degrees and then it would be seriously hard to walk. My feet are wonky but not that much. I do understand now the serious pride at being able to turn a heel. I found myself thinking things like "sure that person can do such and such (insert impressive achievement here) but can they make a sock? Doubt it!"

I also got to experience trying to take photos of my feet. It seemed to work best with me upside down with my legs propped on the back of the sofa and my head resting on the ottomon. Should anyone from the apartment building across the street happened to look at that time they must have been seriously confused, all the more since it was at something like 6:30am on a Saturday.

Since I normally wear short socks, anklets and such, I am now scouring these kinds of patterns on rav. If anyone has a favorite or a favorite spring sock yarn let me know. It's finally too warm to wear wool socks here! Except my folks did say the got 2 inches of snow this weekend in Maine. Really, winter is over now!

It's Flooding in Boston, but I Hear Hell May Have Frozen Over

2010-03-31T07:28:00.000-04:00

My knitter's block has not really not wanted to un-block. I made several attempts at casting on only to rip everything out. Nothing was working. I had to try a new tact.

Did you ever see that Seinfeld episode where George decides to do the exact opposite of what his natural instincts tell him to do? I decided to give that a whirl. So what is the item I never, ever,ever knit? That I have stubbornly refused to knit. Altogether now boys and girl- SOCKS!

Yes, I decided to knit socks. (Somewhere in San Francisco, Ariel is cheering). I went to my LYS and I scanned their wide selection of sock yarns. My instincts pulled me to my familiar favoite colorways, blues, blue and green, blue and purple, do you see a trend? And it struck me again - opposite! No blues, no quiet, muted nature or jewel tones. I had to go for loud and bright to break me from this block.

So I picked this skein I would normally never buy. Look it has orange and a bits of pink! I don't wear/knit orange or light pink.

I have cast on the plain old sock recipe in The Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules. Well actually I cast on and frogged and cast on again, and then knit a whole bunch and ripped back to the ribbing and changed needles sizes. First they were going to be too big, then too small, then too big again, and I mutter about my fat calves and freakishly wide feet but I kept knitting. I was determined and it helped that I was like a small child and really wanted to see what happened next with the self-striping yarn.

Here's a pic of where I am so far. I just finished turning the heel which was far less stressful than I anticipated.

Fiber-y Videos

2010-03-18T11:47:00.000-04:00

Okay, just cause I haven't been knitting recently does not mean I have shunned all things sheepy and wool related. Here are a few of my favorite videos of late.

Carve Me out a Bit of Inspiration

2010-03-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

For some reason February is never a good month for me. It is the New England winter without the holidays of December or the optimistic brand new year-ness of January. And this year was no exception. While we didn't get hit with the snow that the mid-Atlantic did, the bitter cold seemed to freeze any creative inspiration I had. I couldn't figure out what to knit for the Knitting Olympics and while I watched my fair share of aerials and speed skating and I did not once pick up a pair of knitting needles.

Last week March finally arrived and with it came temperatures in the 40's and my niece's birthday. I always try to make at least a portion of her gift. She is still into fairies and since I already knit her little fairies last year so I had to come up with something else this year. I figured some rubber stamps in the fairy motif would add to her drawings.

Hopefully, this will re-spark my creativity and get me back to stitching or knitting or what have you,

Mary, Skeletons and Bacon, oh my!

2010-02-18T02:36:00.000-05:00

I can show off some embroidery I did now since my friend has received her gifts. A few years back I was sitting at my weekly Stitch n Bitch and I was working on some embroidery instead of my usual knitting. And it struck me as funny because all these knitters kept saying "oh my that looks so complicated, too hard for me" and they were totally serious. Included amongst them was my friend Ariel who was probably in the middle of knitting socks on size 2 double pointed needles.
Any one who has visited Ariel's place soon notices her collection of religious and Day of the Dead well, stuff so I knew the Dia de Los Muertos patterns from Sublime Stitching would be just up her alley. I stole this first photo from her blog she took because for the life of me I could not get a decent shot of the skeletons. I embroidered these and then made them into teeny pillows and while I am proud of my embroidery, my sewing skills are still a bit well, sucky. It's not my fault, the sewing machine is possessed!

And for some added silliness, I crocheted up some bacon 'cause also if you know Ariel you know how she feels about bacon.

Totoro and his Mittens

2010-02-11T16:40:00.000-05:00

Last month Craftzine had this post showing Totoro mittens, and I immediately thought of my cousin who is a big fan of Totoro. The next day I get an email from said cousin hinting strongly that she loves those mittens and she did have a birthday in January.....

(By the way, Totoro is from Hayao Miyazaki’s Japanese animated film "My Neighbor Totoro". I have it on my Netflix queue but there is a Loooooong Wait for it. )

Since it does not take a whole lot of arm twisting to get me to A) Make something cutesie and B) Knit stranded mittens - I knew what what my next project would be. I had some Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Winter White leftover from the scarf I had made my cousin for Hannukah so her new mittens will match perfectly. I headed downtown to my LYS to pick up a blue or grey and found this great new colorway of Ultra Alpaca called Blue Steel. A great color (I like greys) and the added bonus of sounding like a cheesy 80s action movie. Then woman ringing up my sale asked my what I was making, it turns out she is a huge Miyazaki fan and was thrilled to talk knitting and japanese film.

I seemed to bang out the mittens pretty quickly, there are some long floats that you have to deal with but otherwise a straightforward knit. I think they are pretty sweet.

After the mittens were done I still had a ton of Blue Steel left over so I scanned through rav and found the cutest stuffed Totoro. Turns out a ingenious ravelry user had adapted the stuffed cat, Kate from Knitty into Totoro and was kind enough to put all the changes in her project notes (I love rav). I got this guy done in one night of insomnia with just some detail work to be done the next day. He is pretty frakkin' adorable if I do say so myself.

Elijah & Sheldon

2010-01-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am a bit late with these guys but a friend of mine had twin boys a few months back and I am just finishing up their gifts now. Initially, I scoured ravelry looking at patterns for sweaters, hats, blankets but then I realized I love knitting toys but really don't want to keep them so this was the best of all worlds. I feel a kinship to the new baby boys since it turns out I was there when my friend started labor, she was completely unphased and was sure it was Braxton Hicks (um, it wasn't) and we kept chatting away. Her boys arrived bright and early the next morning - on my birthday. Well, our birthday now.

First there is Sheldon the Turtle. I have wanted to knit this up since that issue of Knitty came out. I even used the recommended yard and colors. It's actually a bit fiddly for a toy, there's some crochet in there, applied i-cord but it was all worth it. I love that you can take his shell on and off. There are a whole bunch of examples on ravelry where people have made other outfits for him, lions, cowboy, police, Santa even ick a bat. He's like his very own Village People.

Then there is Elijah. This adorable elephant is done with no seaming at all. Yay, for that! More than once I thought about how her design process must have worked because there are some ingenious parts to it. Since it involved knitting the limbs by picking up stitches I found it easier to use *gasp* DPNs instead of Magic Loop.

The two have become fast friends already and I look forward to hearing of their adventures with my friend's little boys.

Present for Me

2010-01-14T07:30:00.000-05:00

I posted previously some handmade gifts that I made but now I have show off the handmade that I got!!!

While I was knitting away on my sister's radishes she was busy putting the finishing touches on my awesome new apron.

I had seen some cool vintage styled aprons around at craft shows and on etsy and I thought well hell, I could do that. But then I realized my sister sews far better than I do and she knows how to use them pattern-y things and to cut fabric straight and do all the things that I tend to screw up when I sew. So I hinted that this would be something I might like. And by hinting I really mean saying, "Hey, you can make me this for my birthday/Hannukah/other gift giving opportunity!"

Apparently forcing her to shop for fabric is similar to asking a knitter to shop for yarn not a big hardship for her there; something tells me she probably picked up a little something for herself along the way.

It's got some red to match the KitchenAid mixer (doesn't everyone accessorize to match their appliances?) and I totally never would have thought of florals for me but they are bright and happy and offset with polka dots (sis loves polka dots) and I love it. You can't really tell from the photo but it skirts out so I totally feel like I am channeling my inner Betty Draper from Mad Men when I wear it. Now I just have to get around to doing some cooking....

Holiday Knitting on Parade

2010-01-07T02:38:00.000-05:00

We exchanged most of our gifts in the family over New Years this year so I am now able to show you some of my holiday knitting.

For my brother-in-law I knit him the We Call Them Pirates hat. I was afraid it was going to be a bit snug but it seemed to fit well and even covered his ears which is necessary with the wind chills putting us into single digits around here recently.

A few months back my sister and I are chatting on the phone and she says "you'd knit me radishes, right?" To which I answered "of course I would." Seems like a normal conversation to me apparently to others it's a bit weird, bah. Turns out she had a copy of Marie Claire Idees with a pattern for french radishes. So I had to go and translate the pattern from french to english. Time to put that French Lit degree to good use! Only I wasn't that familiar with french knitting terms but luckily I found this French Knitting dictionary on Chez Plum, a great find that has been bookmarked for future endeavors. I did adapt it to knit it the round, less seaming, but otherwise I stuck pretty much to the pattern, I think. They came out very cute and my sister loved them.

Also for those keeping track at home I knit the Squirrel and Oak Mittens (same designer Hello Yarn, as the pirate hat) about a year and a half ago (my first stranding project) and they came out a wee bit small. My niece has finally grown into them (go milk!) and is now their proud owner. It's nice to know they are finally being used to their full potential (making a snow woman in the wilds of Maine - no pictures to show you since I was not crazy enough to leave my warm cocoon under a pile of afghans on the sofa to face the cold.

Live from New York It's A Snowy Saturday Night

2010-01-01T16:57:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone out there ended 2009 in a happy way.

Not surprisingly I am a bit behind and will have to have some 2009 related posts before I fully surrender to the new decade.

The week before Christmas I headed to NYC to stay with Non-Crafty Meg and to go to Saturday Night Live. Of course there was a doozy of a winter storm coming up the east coast but I was lucky and made it there before the snow hit and buses and trains were cancelled.

With a dim sum lunch in Chinatown shortly after I arrived I was fortified to up into the wee hours. We braved the snow and crowds at Rockefeller Center to see The Tree, well, it was across the street from the studio so really how could we not?

Non-Crafty Meg with The Tree behind her, it's hard to see but it's there

The Tree at Rockefeller Center

Watching SNL was really cool. I had never seen a tv show filmed before so it was neat to see all the inner workings and how much goes on so during the commercials of a live show. And for my cousin, Celeste, yeah James Franco was really hot.

For you knitters out there I also managed to make a quick stop at School Products before I left and picked up a cashmere-silk blend and some Karabella yarn of which they have more colors than I have ever seen.

Luck Be A Lady

2009-12-22T19:45:00.001-05:00

Hi! I will have a post on my weekend in New York soon but that requires uploading pictures and more thought than I am currently capable of right now. In other news, my luck seems to be holding out because last week I won another blog contest!

The wonderful folks at Feeling Stitchy gave away copies of Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching's new book Embroidered Effects and I was lucky enough to win one. I have always been a big fan of Jenny's work and own many, many of her patterns so I was really excited to get this book and get re-inspired to get back into doing some embroidery. The book has lots of cool new stitches for me to try so keep an eye out for some fancy embroidery in the new year.

Odd Luck

2009-12-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hi all. I have been knitting away but since they are gifts for people who may (or should be) reading this blog I can't talk about it just yet.

The fates seem to have a strange sense of humor recently. I am officially unemployed now and had a pretty awful last day of work but then the very next day, whamo! I check my email and it turns out I won tickets to Saturday Night Live! Last summer Non-Crafty Meg send a whole bunch of her friends the link to sign up for tickets and it turns out several of us won! I will be heading to NYC next weekend to see James Franco host and to partake of some dim sum in Chinatown. I am excited for a fun weekend with friends and New York at Christmas time is so pretty. So stay tuned for some pics of Rockefeller Center and the big tree.

Then this week I entered a contest over on shelterrific and won! Soon I will be receiving this Doodle Dog apron designed with a William Wegman doodle from Crypton Fabrics. I love winning stuff. I think I may have to have a giveaway soon to balance my karma or something. I'll have to start thinking about it, it may involve googly eyes.

I hope folks are having a Happy Hanukkah, I am will be enjoying my mom's tasty potato latkes tonight - yum!

Oh, Now I Get It

2009-12-01T22:49:00.004-05:00

I always heard people talk about Malabrigo yarn and I've touched it but I never really got it before now. I was shopping at my LYS and I figured it was about time I knit with it. While I was holding the gorgeous Worsted in Indigo, I looked up at a sample knit of Wavy. I knew that it was the perfect meeting of the right yarn and the right pattern.

The yarn is so soft and such a dream to knit up. I suddenly got it, ah, malabrigo. Then there is the color. I would be knitting this scarf up and would just stop to stare at it, the mixtures of colors from the kettle dying that just is such a feast for the eyes. Even at work, people (non-knitters) would comment on it as they walked by me knitting away at lunch. The photo doesn't do it justice but it is just wonderful.

Here it is being modeled by the lovely Glenda at my folks house on Thanksgiving. Yeah, you see the whole mannequin thing runs in the family.

Sock It To Me

2009-11-19T18:41:00.006-05:00

Those of you reading this blog for a while know that I don't knit socks. And if you read the comments you know that Ariel has made it her mission to wear me down and like Darth Vader tried do to Luke, turn me to the dark side of knitting socks. While I have followed other advice of hers: like buying yarn for no specific project in mind and watching Battlestar Gallactica because it's awesome (and because Apollo is hot); I have still held my ground with the "no socks" thing. But I may have been dealt a serious blow to my resolve this week.

She sent me socks for my birthday.

These are my first hand-knit socks. They are gorgeous and stripy and fit my freaky, "I have feet issues", feet. My feet are truly not worthy of these beautiful socks. I tried them on and they were warm and comfy and made my feet look good – really they are magic socks. That whole "why would anyone want to knit something just to put it on their feet?" argument that I've held onto for so long took a major hit. I'm not saying that I am going to start knitting up all of the beautiful sock yarn in my stash into socks; really that's just crazy talk. But maybe just maybe there is one skein in there just waiting to be socks or maybe I have to go buy more yarn.

There is a part of me that wants to keep the magic socks in my drawer in pristine condition rather than wear them and subject them to the inevitable wear and tear that I will ultimately subject them to. That is very like me and very wrong. I have a tendency to save things for rainy days instead of enjoying them in the here and now. Good intention, bad habit. I was going to wear them on my birthday this weekend but looking at the weather forecast it looks like it may be approaching 60 degrees and that's a bit too warm for wool socks for me. But Thanksgiving looks to be a bit chilly and my parents' house is always cold so I think they may make their debut there.

If you want to see more pics of the socks check out this post over at Ariel's blog where she also happens to say nice things about me. **blush** Really who doesn't want the blogosphere to read when people write nice things about them?

Ariel, thank you again for socks they are wonderful and they make up for the fact that you send me links to photos of bats.

Unfaithful

2009-11-10T19:14:00.004-05:00

I admit it, I cheated on my knitting.

I have this project I'm working on with gorgeous yarn that I simply adore and yet over the weekend I set it aside. I wanted something quick and easy so I just feel the satisfaction of having completed a project. Having more than one project on the needles - people do it all the time, right? Really, it's no big deal. But you don't understand, there were no needles, it was crochet! Gasp!

It started so innocently I was surfing around on ravelry and accidentally had crochet checked instead of knitting when doing a pattern search. Suddenly all these cute patterns popped up. I started digging around in my stash and found some random sock yarn leftovers that someone had given me. And I had these little bone ring thingies in my sewing supplies that I bought for some project. Although for the life of me I have no clue what it was. I decided to make this cute bracelet using the instructions here at CraftStylish. I changed the yarn type, hook size and the layout of the rings and I got rid of the clasp and made it just a bit bigger so it can slide on and off but the basic how-to's are all the same.

Here's a detail shot of it before I decided to forget the clasp and make it slip on.

I like the way it turned out. Since it's kinda flat and made of yarn it doesn't clank against the keyboard which is what I spend a huge portion of my day doing.

And here's a pic of it in action.

Knitting is my first love but I can't say I won't stray again.

Good Riddance October

2009-11-05T19:02:00.003-05:00

Went a bit MIA again, sorry about that! October was ...well how do I say this? October sucked. Big time. People were sick and cranky, it snowed and oh yeah, I got laid off. Well, technically my last day is a few weeks away but come Dec 1st I am unemployed. I have been awash in all sorts of emotions: stress, fear, anger, relief (I really was never happy there anyway). I had one official weekend of moping complete with chinese takeout and catching up on last season's Project Runway. And since then I have been really okay which means I am due for a complete freak out some time soon. So it will be either on my birthday or Thanksgiving weekend. Stay tuned for all the wacky freak out fun!

The good thing all that came out of all this is I realized just how awesome the people around me are. They have been so amazingly supportive and wonderful that I get a little mushy just thinking about it.

So hopefully I will get a new job right away and if not I may be churning out projects left and right and blogging so much y'all will get sick of me. Handmade presents for everyone! Seriously I've already told my dad who wants no hand knit wear (blasphemy!) that he is just getting a handful of yarn scraps. I think that's the knitter's version of "I got a rock". Those of you who partook in their annual viewing of "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" know what I'm talking about.

I hope everyone out there's October was much better than mine. Happier, yarn-filled posts to come!

Good Eats

2009-10-19T19:50:00.005-04:00

Last week, before it snowed….yeah, you read that right, it snowed here yesterday, big white fluffy flakes coming from the sky for a good part of the day… in October. October!!! It forced me to stay inside and knit and nap and watch Gilmore Girls reruns and Netflix movies. Tragic! Luckily, the snow was all gone when I left for work this morning and by the end of the week it is supposed to be back to more seasonable temperature. Really, I may have some cute cold-weather knits to wear but I am really not ready to bust them out just yet.

Anyway as I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself, last week I got the chance to see Alton Brown host of cooking/food science/ pop culture skewering TV show Good Eats It was a family outing, as I went with my mom and brother-in-law. My sister was supposed to come too but was feeling a bit under the weather.

Since it is kind of hard to do a reading from a cooking/ behind the scenes book he just took questions from the crowd. Both Charley and I got to ask him questions. Mine was about his favorite food writers. His favorite is John Thorne, if I remember the name correctly. I instantly forgot it after he said it then remembered it again and forgot it again and finally had to do a wikipedia search today of all food writers until I recognized the name. Seriously I am getting old. I will have to check out his work at the library. Charley’s question which was “If you could switch shows with anyone else on The Food Network who would it be?” was much funnier than mine since it led to some gentle mocking of Semi -Homemade Host Sandra Lee. Alton Brown is very funny and quick and it was much more like seeing a comedian than a chef.

Here's a some of him signing books after the reading. I tried but I just could not get a good photo of him during the reading; the theatre it was held in was way too dimly lit for my puny camera to get a good shot.

I'm excited there seem to be a whole bunch of authors I like coming to town in the next few weeks and this Saturday is the Boston Book Festival with a whole slew of signings, readings and other events.

Preparing for an Early Winter...

2009-10-15T20:39:00.004-04:00

It has become cold awfully early this year, seriously it was in the 30s this morning! It's a good thing I finished up my latest project so my head will stay toasty warm.

My sister had given me some of her leftover weaving yarn cones and they've been hanging out in my stash for a while. It seemed to be fingering weight-ish and the red and cream colors were really similar to the yarn I had used in my Anatolian Mittens. I decided I needed a matching but not really matching hat. It's stranded and red and white but otherwise a completely different design.

So here is my Selbu Modern, a wonderful free pattern that can be located right here at Kelbourne Woolens. It's a really well-written pattern and the only modifications I made were to go up in needle size because I have both a big head with lots of hair and seem to knit my stranded work pretty tight and it all always seems to run a bit small. This time it came out just the right size and I am really thrilled with it.

This picture is of the side design.

And I was delightfully surprised by how the top comes together in a giant star/snowflake thingie.

Happy Columbus Day!!

2009-10-11T14:00:00.003-04:00

I don't get Columbus Day off from work. I don't know about celebrating the "discovery" of a country that clearly had been already discovered by the people who lived here. But there is one tradition of Columbus Day weekend that I love. Windsor Button, my LYS, has their annual sale every Columbus Day weekend and that means all yarn is 20% off! I also had a couple of gift certificates hanging out on my fridge waiting for just the right day.

After lots of yarn fonding, I came home with these lovelies. Apparently I am in my blue period.

On the top is Cherry Hill Supersock Merino. Then clockwise is Malabrigo Worsted in Indigo and Malabrigo Silky Merino in Indiecita. The Silky Merino just called to me. I have no idea what I am going to make with it but I just had to have it. Really- I had to have it.

Enjoy your Columbus Day, I hope it involves soft gorgeous yarn.

October Already?

2009-10-01T20:22:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone out there!

I seem to have fallen off the face of the blog for the past few weeks. Sorry 'bout that. For over a week I was in a truly crappy mood and seem to hate everyone. The mood has since passed and I am again my sweet and charming self. (That noise you hear right there- is my sister choking on something.) Anyway...while in that foul mood I also came down with some weird Knitter's Block. I couldn't figure out what to cast on next and everything I started was frogged soon after. I did managed to knit a few squares for the Pine Street Inn Knit-A-Thon so at least something got accomplished.

Good news - remember the Endpaper Mitts that I finished and wasn't really thrilled about? I brought them to Stitch n Bitch and I had my friend Laurel try them on. They looked great on her - truly great, like they were made just for her. Maybe they were? Maybe the knits knew more than then knitter? Hmmmm...

A few weeks back I went to the first meeting of the season of the Common Cod Fiber Guild, where the speaker was Kristin Nicholas discussing The Joy of Color. It was really a great talk. Kristin does great things with color (duh!) but also combining knitting and embroidery. I have in my craft book library, her embroidery book and I really should get around to do a project from it. The photos in her slide show were just gorgeous and she brought samples from her new book coming out (next person I know who has a baby is getting a sweet baby blanket from that book) and Kristin hung out and chatted afterwards and answered all sorts questions.

The CSA windfall continues....the early season greens have now given way to an abundance of eggplants, potatoes, butternut squash, melon, peppers and kale yes the kale is back...I am roasting a bunch of eggplants and peppers as I type.

My cousin, future magazine editor and style maven has taken my theory, Bacon, it's the new Cupcake, and run with it in this post on her blog. Yeah, there's a bacon bra, which makes me feel good since no matter how weird I am there will always be weirder out there.

I have cast on a new project, I'm back to my stranded ways so hopefully I will have some photos in the next post. Happy October! Or Socktober for those who are into such things.

Endpaper Mitts

2009-09-08T19:23:00.003-04:00

I was working on a project that I had to put aside to knit up Scarfy, another popular pattern the Endpaper Mitts. I used Valley Yarns Huntington yarn from WEBS. I am of mixed feelings on this project - I don't think the colors I used contrasted enough to make it "pop" enough for my taste. I may have to try again with another color combo. I may also go up a needle size since they are supposed to be on the tight-ish side but I want them a wee bit bigger. But it was a good project since it taught me a new technique the Italian Tubular Cast On which I can see myself using on many mittens in the future.

Phiaro for Paris

2009-08-31T17:17:00.003-04:00

Remember a few posts back I said how I bought that beautiful Tilli Tomas red silk yarn for a gift for someone else? It is an early birthday present for my sister. She is turning a BIG birthday this year (ya know the kind that ends with a "0" or a "5"?) So for this big birthday she decided she wanted to go to Paris. I started thinking about it and decided she needed a chic scarf for this trip.

We looked at patterns on ravelry and narrowed it down to a few. This was not going to be a surprise gift, I figured she deserved to get exactly what she wanted and it was a good thing because she chose the Phiaro Scarf which I probably wouldn't have picked myself. A simple pattern with an interesting construction made it knit up pretty quick. The only strange part is that you end up dropping more than half the stitches you knit. It came out beautifully and has a such a great drape and my sister loved it.

I didn't get a chance to take any good photos of the scarf before my sister left so I made her promise to take some pictures of it in Paris. In fact, being the younger sister that I am I bugged the crap out of her that I wanted to see the Scarf at the Louvre, the Scarf at the Arch de Triomphe etc... and oh, she could be in the pictures too if she wanted.

Well, she is in Paris at this very moment and with the wonders of modern technology I have learned that Scarfy is enjoying itself and my niece is planning to write a story detailing its adventures in Paris.

Scarfy with a view of The Eiffel Tower

Scarfy at The Louvre

M & M & Scarfy

Fresh from the Farm and Feeling Googly

2009-08-16T15:07:00.004-04:00

I could take normal photos of this week's haul from the CSA but I am feeling a bit goofy today (ah hell, I'm pretty goofy most days). It's in the 90s and I have no air-conditioning so I am pleading temporary insanity based on melted brains.

So here is just some of what I got today.

Don't worry no fruits or vegetables were harmed during this filming. Although the tomato and cucumber are headed for the food processor for a yummy asian gazpacho and I may be a total masochist and turn on the oven to make an a small eggplant parmigiana.

Post #111 aka I am blanking on a cute title

2009-08-14T21:44:00.004-04:00

My sister and I were talking today about how we're not really good with change. There's a lot of change in the works around us; new schools, friends moving away etc...I told her how I was heading to Haymarket after work to pickup ingredients for some weekend cooking and I that I never want Haymarket to change. I want it to stay it's slightly grungy self with guys yelling "Two fer a dollah!, two fer a dollah", who get pissed when you manhandle the fruit and how some days you need to push your way through the crowd in the bottle necked, narrow section. It's not farmers market pretty, it's Haymarket and some things shouldn't change.

So after work I got a bit sidetracked by walking a co-worker to South Station. He was about to take a bus and a subway instead of the 10 minute walk from our office since he didn't know that "route" (he kept calling it a "route") and didn't trust my directions (walk down street, turn right, see bus station, walk to it) without consulting Google Maps and already had shut down his PC. (Right now Non-Crafty Meg is shouting "That's why you, meaning everyone, should have an iphone!") So I offered to walk him there since it was such a nice evening.

Since I was now at South Station my walk to Haymarket was now different and I found myself walking along the Rose Kennedy Greenway. And that's where I suddenly saw it. A carousel. A carousel in downtown Boston. It was strange and wonderful and made stop dead in my tracks with a silly smile on my face. I will admit I do tend to steer away from the Fanueil Hall area when it is high tourist season but how did I miss this for so long? And why was it not there when I was a kid? I could imagine myself looking back fondly "remember when we got to ride the carousel whenever we got dragged to Haymarket and Mom made us carry heavy melons?"

Maybe a little change isn't so bad.

I had almost reached my destination when two women, tourists, asked me where to find, as they put it, "the italian area". I took this to mean The North End. And as I motioned to them where to go I looked over at where the ugly Expressway had been prior to The Big Dig and I was surprised as I always am that it's not there. Instead you are actually able to see the sky and there are parks and it's pretty. Hmmm....more non-evil change.

So I wish there was a moral here, like I am now embracing change, when life hands you lemons and yada yada yada. But really? Me? I am just a complex gal who likes her city cleaned up, some, but not so much that it loses its charm and becomes a giant mall. I want outdoor cafes but am frightened by the sheer number of Panera's that seem to have sprouted up overnight. I embrace technology and wallow in nostalgia. And I will always, always love a merry-go-round.

American Beauty and a Pizza

2009-07-26T14:02:00.003-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that I bought some gorgeous yarn while visiting New York. I stopped in at Purl Soho which is such a delightful store. Something about the way the yarn is arranged is so visually pleasing. It just bursts with color and I only wish I could have stayed longer, but alas I was with Non-Crafty Meg and could only subject her to so such much fawning over yarn.

I went to Purl with a mission. I was looking for bamboo or silk in red. The staff at the store was amazingly helpful and soon I was fondling this gorgeous Tilli Tomas 100% silk in American Beauty colorway. I have never seen this yarn before it is just lovely. I just love it and it's mine all mine!!! (Insert cackling laugh here.) Oh wait, actually it's not really mine for long, I bought it for a gift for someone. I guess now that I have stated that here I guess I can't even keep it for myself.

Now for a "what I've been cooking from my CSA haul update". This week saw the return of the beet risotto, a bacon, squash and chard quiche and this white pizza with artichoke and chard. The pizza was yummy but the taste of the veggies kind of got lost in the cheese and dough. But that's really okay because it's cheese and dough!! Yummy!!

Hot Time in the City

2009-07-17T21:27:00.006-04:00

It's a warm Friday night in the city and what am I up to? Laundry! And I am just fine with that. I was away the past few weekends and now my naturally homebody-self is happily sitting at home catching up on shows on the DVR and my Netflix.

I spent the 4Th of July weekend up in Maine where we picked strawberries, made strawberry daiquiris, strawberry and sponge cake and strawberry pancakes. All wonderful until I realized by the end of the weekend I have developed a strawberry allergy and had to hit the store for antihistamine and calamine lotion. I like to think that maybe my body couldn't handle the strawberry overload and I am really not allergic. I do love my denial.

This past weekend I went to New York City to visit Non-Crafty Meg for her birthday. We packed a whole lot into one weekend. We saw The Hangover (hilarious - but not for those who dislike profanity and ribald humor) then over to Serendipity for a late dinner and their famous frozen hot chocolate.

Serendipity

We had lunch at Justin Timberlake's bar-b-q restaurant with my cousin who is interning at a magazine in NYC for the summer. A loooooot of walking around and much drinking of iced coffee, a quick visit to the Museum of Arts and Design, where the current exhibit The Art of Industrial Ceramics was very cool and is there until Sept 13 so check it out if you're in the city.

Columbus Circle (photo taken from outside the Museum of Arts and Design)

That night we went to see "The Tempermentals" starring Michael Urie from Ugly Betty. He and the entire cast were just wonderful! A really great and interesting play. Another must see if you're visiting the city. And who was in the audience just a few rows away - Joan Rivers!

The celeb spotting continued all weekend as saw one of the kids from Gossip Girl and an actress from One Life to Live on the street. The next night we went to Rock of Ages (fabulously cheesetastic in an 80s music kind of way) I won the ticket lottery and got a sweet seat in the 2nd row! and who was there but Phil Collins! The play stared one of the folks from American Idol but since I have never watched it (yeah I am one of those 10 people) I don't count him in my celeb sightings. Meg says she saw Pierce Brosnan at a cafe in Soho the next day but I missed it so I can't corroborate that sighting.

I did squeeze in a visit to a yarn store but the yarn I bought there is soooo pretty that it may deserve a post of its own and I haven't taken pictures of it yet.

Besides the yarn I picked up these super cute appetizer plates at CB2 that were recently mentioned at decor8. I bought them before Meg pointed out the decor8 post to me. I am just soooo trendy, ha! (Hear that Marsy I'm hip!)

Whew, by the end of the weekend I was exhausted and my feet were a wee bit sore but we had a great time and I think Meg's birthday was celebrated in style. But now I am happily loafing on the sofa watching summer tv.

Everyone Gets The Clap Sooner or Later

2009-07-06T00:03:00.003-04:00

Stop being so dirty you know I mean The Clapotis.

The amazingly popular pattern that is one of the most knit patterns out there. As I write this there are 11,847 projects on ravelry. I finally know why. I really enjoyed knitting it. East to memorize, with just enough detail to keep the miles of stockinette from getting too tedious. Plus, you get to drop stitches - on purpose!!
The only drawback was the yarn I used. Berroco Softwist is a wee bit splitty. I love the shine the rayon gives but it took a whole lot more concentration while knitting to keep it from splitting.

Now I am already thinking about knitting another...maybe some variegated sock yarn.

I asked my favorite model, to pose for the photos of the project. I may have to knit her a kid-sized version.

Knit Your Bit

2009-06-28T13:42:00.003-04:00

As long time readers may remember I was given a poster by my folks a while ago of Knitting Girl, a vintage poster for a french store. I wasn't so sure how I felt about her then but soon after I came to love her, she's my avatar, my knitting alter-ego and even design inspiration for my front entry room (I picked up the red of her chair for rugs etc....)

So I was searching around for other knitting related posters a few weeks back and I came across this one that really caught my eye. It's a reproduction of a Red Cross poster used during World War I around 1918. I like the irony in the fact that I don't knit socks and this poster is telling me, no ordering me to so. We'll see, I'd hate to be unpatriotic. Oh, and the fact that the yellow background of the poster is the exact same color as the walls of my office/craft room is just the icing on top. I am pretty impressed with myself in the fact that I got the poster in the mail and bought a frame and hung it up within days. I am usually a horrible procrastinator and let things sit unframed and unhung for months at a time.

And just for fun here is a glamour shot of this week's CSA goodies. I am all about the greens now. Or it could just be that I love anything sauteed with olive oil and garlic. I off to start looking for some radish recipes and I'll check out Ariel's blog who is linking to recipes she may use for our veggie haul. It's good to have friends who read foodie blogs.

We Got the Beet

2009-06-22T20:44:00.003-04:00

I have been MIA from the blog again. I got all thrown when I caught pneumonia the end of May/beginning of June. I am all better now and I feel like I got better pretty quickly for pneumonia but all in all not a fun experience. I was so tired while I was sick that I couldn't even knit. I do have one project that I need to post about but Boston has been in the middle of this icky, rainy cycle that seems to appear anytime I think about taking photos.
Just to give you a clue what I knit I can say that it is probably one of the most popular patterns out there and there are over 11,000 projects on ravelry. I do have one picture of it - an action shot taken from the Paw Sox Stitch n Pitch last month (amazing what I forget is on the camera)

I am also really excited about the farm CSA that I joined with my knitta Ariel. We had our first pick up yesterday and I now swimming in greens; kale, chard, arugula, lettuce, beets, curly cress and strawberries (well, the strawberries are actually gone already - they were so wonderfully tasty and sweet that I gobbled them up.

Ariel took some gorgeous veggie eye candy photos so check them out here. I found a yummy sounding recipe for beet risotto with greens and goat cheese and since I was spending Father's Day with my family last night, Ariel beet me to it (oh, bad pun!) and let me know that it good so I made it tonight.

Brimfield

2009-05-16T23:24:00.003-04:00

I took Friday off and joined my sister and brother-in-law at the monster antique-fest know as Brimfield. It is just fields and fields of antiques and junk.

We started off with clearly our most important purchase of the day. Amazingly silly matching rings for my sister and I, which gave us amazing Wonder Twin powers. Luckily my brother-in-law is a patient man 'cause my sis and I are together since we can be a wee bit goofy.

I had a few things I was looking for, for some DIY project ideas that are bumping around in my head. I got some vintage hooks, an old key and this great and amazingly heavy rotary phone.

My sister and hubby scored some great art pieces that are sure to look amazing in their already well-decorated home.

Marsy shows off her new Colman's Mustard poster.

While Charley's new game board will be a welcome addition to his collection.

I kept an eye out for knitting and fiber related items, but the $200 sterling silver knitting needles and the $700 whale bone swift from the 1800's were a bit out of my budget.

I did spot this spinning wheel....

I just love the amazing colors of these weaving bobbins.

Then literally moments after commenting on the lack of fiber goodness I stumble across - Yarn!!! A woman was selling some of her friend's yarn from Ragtime Farm in New Hampshire. Her friend does it all - raises sheep and goats cards the wool, spins, dyes etc...ya know I just had to support that. So I picked up this lovely hand-painted sportweight merino. The photo does not do it justice but it is just a gorgeous mix of blues and greens.

By the end of the day, my feet were sore, my arms a bit sunburnt and I was beyond exhausted but it was all totally worth it for such a great time.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2009-05-10T23:21:00.003-04:00

Just a quick pop-in to finally post some knitting! I finished this scarf for my mom a few weeks back for but of course blocked it at the last possible moment to give it to her today for Mother's Day. Here's my version of Liesel, knit in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. I love the way lace looks when it's done but too bad it is so not my style to wear. I guess I'll just have to keep knitting it for gifts.

I'm Still Alive

2009-04-24T00:40:00.003-04:00

I have been a bad, bad blogger. At first I didn't blog because I hadn't taken any photos of my knitting in progress. Then I realized that my next post, this post, would be my 100th. That's a cause for celebration, a momentous moment. There should be balloons, confetti, something. But alas I have nothing special prepared. Maybe I'll do something for my 111th post, I like repeating numbers.

So what have I been up to in this past month? Not too much knitting. I am working on a lace-y scarf for my mom for mother's day but I have to say I am not enthralled by it. But the good thing is that I have gotten back in gear what it comes to going to the gym. A few of my knittas have joined my gym and we've actually been meeting up and going! That really is the hard part for me - going, I am the queen of excuses but I would never bail on someone else (only myself, hmmmm.)

I promise to get back into the blogging spirit for the month of May.

Is this Another Chicken Joke?

2009-03-22T22:08:00.004-04:00

Dear Yarn Stash,

I am sorry for being so bitchy this week. Really I don't hate you. I don't think you are ugly. I don't want to get new yarn to replace you (well....we won't talk about that) I was just having a hard time figuring out what to cast on next. I grabbed that nice skein of Silky Wool and really I tried to start that cowl but it just wasn't happening. So I scoured and scoured ravelry until I found something completely silly that made me smile. And I did use some of your lovely stash. So I think the knitting funk that I was in for a few days has passed. Thank you for putting up with me.

-Sarah

So what knocked me out of this short-lived funk, as I approached the first day of Spring with grey dreary days and temps that kept hovering in the 30s? A Spring Chicken!

He is just adorable, I love him and he brings out the truly silly in me. As I knit him up I could not stop the chicken jokes. I finished his body, I nibbled on him and said "Mmmm...tastes just like chicken". Then I knit up his feet and played imaginary dim sum cart, "Chicken Feet? No thanks, are the pork buns coming around?" I knit up his tail feathers and of course he did a little dance shaking his tail feathers. There were quite a few crossings of the road or in this case the ottoman.

Yeah, there's a chance I may have lost it a little bit but don't worry I am not going to be that crazy lady totally surrounded by stuffed animals. Spring Chicken has an adventure planned for him so stay tuned.

To be continued.....

A Year of Fiber

2009-03-16T19:36:00.004-04:00

Did you know that 2009 has been designated International Year of Natural Fibres by the UN? I didn't think so. I learned all about it from my very own fiber farm (I am a shareholder after all) the Martha's Vineyard/Hudson Valley Fiber Farm.

Susan also has some cool links to events going on in conjunction with The Year. Or if you just need a pick-me-up check out the link for one of the cutest lamb faces I've ever seen. Or is it a goat? Reason # 104 why I am not a shepherd I can't tell if it's a goat or a sheep! So I better support those who can......

Birthday Fairies

2009-03-09T20:32:00.005-04:00

As is my tradition, I make my niece's birthday presents. Except for when she turned 3. But hell, with 4 out of 5 I am at an 80% handmade gift percentage, not bad. Did I mention I am a bit of a number dork? Anyway...my niece has moved out of the princess phase and into the fairy phase. Really, princesses are so last year.

The girl does not need anymore stuffed animals but since they just re-painted her room I figured she could use some room decor. Growing up I had all sorts of stuff hanging from my ceiling; origami birds, model planes, mobiles and a bunch of other stuff. So I decided to make some fairies to hang from her ceiling. I thought I gave myself a lot of time but A) I never give myself enough time and B) I got sick. So sick in fact that I didn't even have the energy to craft. I had knit up a bunch of small knitted dolls using this pattern.

But at the point I got sick all I had were a bunch of naked dolls. So I pulled an almost all-nighter to sew some outfits and wings for them. No this is not the first time I have seen the wee-hours in order to finish one of her gifts. Adults can handle a late gift but really try explaining to someone under 2 feet tall without feeling horrible.

Naked Dolls

The outfits came out okay, some are cuter than others but they were bald. Really do you realize how frakkin' long it takes to sew hair on a doll? The hair does look like it was done at 3am by someone a bit whacked on decongestant. They are a bit weird looking but I like to think of them as sort of Monet-ish and there are meant to look better from farther away then up close. But most importantly, they were received well and hopefully will keep good watch over her as she sleeps.

The Blue and Green Fairies hang out with my plants.

The Funky Fuschia Fairy gets into my vintage knitting needles.

The Purple Fairy says "Auntie Sarah you really ought to clean your house a bit more...."

A Treat for My Feet

2009-03-01T03:34:00.004-05:00

I decided I needed some quick stash-busting knitting after my mittens. I had some leftover yarn from the Icewine Mittens and figured a cute pair of slippers would be just the thing to use it up. So I cast on for this cute Mary Jane slippers, no problems. I knit a whole slipper, no problems. Finish the sole of the second and then, yup, I run out of yarn.

I check the Knitpicks site and of course the color was not going to be back in stock until mid-March. Well that seems like an awful long wait for a quick knit. So I check out ravelry to see if anyone has that colorway to trade. Nope. I post a note on the destash boards, no luck. Then I look at Knitpicks again and surprise! the color is back in stock. But we're talking about a $2 ball of yarn and it seems silly to pay more for shipping than stuff so clearly I need to buy more stuff! I start throwing things into my shopping cart; yarn, cables for my interchangables...

Wait! This is crazy I am trying to thin out the leftovers from my stash not add just to save on shipping with things I don't love or need! So I revisit the stash, find some Mission Falls 1824, also in purple, from the time I frogged that poncho. Really I should have left my knit poncho wearing days to the ones my grandma made me when I was a kid. Ah, the 70's......

So now do I frog the slipper and a half I already made or just throw them into the abyss of Knitting Projects Gone Wrong? Neither, I did the blasphemous and threw them away. Gasp! Throw yarn away!?! Yes, I did. In my quest for order and simplicity in my home I could see no point in holding on to them. They were not worth the effort or the end-results to salvage the yarn so they had an "unfortunate accident" and met their maker. "Unfortunate accident" is the euphemism I use to describe the fate of items that end up in the dumpster. I have been given enough random stuff from my folks that needed trashing over the years that I needed a euphemism. Before you go thinking I am ungrateful brat it was more like "We don't care what you do with it but we want it out of our house" type stuff.

So with first slippers gone, I restarted and whipped out these super-cute slippers. I just love applied i-cord it makes edges look so finished. I may have to make another set in cotton for the summer. Let me go look at the stash to see if I have enough....

The Stranded Mittens Strike Again

2009-02-16T03:18:00.003-05:00

I decided that since I got a new red coat this winter and I knit Porom in white then I needed new mittens to match. I chose the Anatolian Mittens from the book Folk Mittens that I knit in KnitPicks Telemark. I have to say that I love the way they came out and they are one of the favorite things that I have knit to date. Check out how I actually managed to keep the pattern continuity on the thumb. I am quite impressed with myself.

Of course as I was working on the thumbs this past week we had a warm spell that drove the temps into the 50s. These are amazingly warm mittens the stranding makes them doubly thick and I thought for a moment that they would have to wait until next year to be worn. But this is Boston and winter won't really be over for quite a while and the mittens have already been out for a spin.

I Knit Socks!!!

2009-02-01T18:31:00.003-05:00

At this moment, some of my friends are doing happy dances at the thought that I may have finally broken my long-standing well, stand against knitting socks. But aha! I don't think these really count. But now we no longer have to worry about Soggy's feet getting chilly and him catching a cold.

And now for a gratuitous adorable niece shot.

Ice, Ice Baby

2009-01-28T22:26:00.003-05:00

I have been a bad blogger. It has been a rough winter so far here in Boston. According to the local news station last night we already have gotten more snow so far than the yearly average and then they had to say "and winter is only half over!" I should never watch local news and stick with The Weather Channel. The snow is bad enough but this year we have had some serious cold stretches so when it's over 35 it feels down-right balmy. And as I write this there are large puddles of slush that are icing over and are sure to make for a treacherous walk to the T tomorrow morning.
Between the weather and the economic climate I think I have a touch of the January blues. I am a natural-born homebody so my inclination to stay home and curl up is pretty strong. But I am knitting away. I am working on the Anatolian Mittens from Folk Mittens. They are coming along quickly so at least I will be facing the cold in style.

I have also been asked to do a very special project. See the situation is this - Soggy's feet are cold. Therefore Soggy needs slippers and Auntie Sarah is a sucker when it comes to her niece . Some of you have seen Soggy before . His feet are not filled so I am not sure what size they are but they can probably be into stuffed into a sock ornament. I may have even said that I would make him a hat and scarf too. I mean really, do we want him getting sick?

Oh, did I even mention that I treated myself to a share from the Hudson Valley Fiber Farm for my birthday a few months back? So when I feel those January blues creeping in I go to their new and improved website and check out my sheep and goats. The Lambcam isn't up yet but there are some sweet photos that make me happy. I think my favs right now are Martha and Nan.

A Stitch in the Right Direction

2009-01-18T04:17:00.002-05:00

I mentioned in some earlier post that I was knitting a scarf for my brother. A normal statement for most people but for me it is well, huge. My brother and I have had had a difficult relationship for about the past 20 years so to knit for him is a big deal. But I dove right into the project with no second thoughts and never set the project aside to work on something else so maybe that is a sign of something. Like growing or forgiveness or some of that other junk.....we'll see -it is a new year after all.

We met up today with for me to give him the scarf and he seemed properly appreciative and wrapped it around his neck right away, could have also been the fact that it was something like 20 degrees out today.

Here's some knitting details on the scarf itself Irish Hiking Scarf knit with 2 skeins of Cascade 220. I forgot home something like a simple cable just looks so classic and in this colorway it just came out as such a good manly scarf.

I wasn't sure if my brother would want his photo the blog so I went and found another volunteer on Boston Common who was more than willing to take over modeling duties.

And a close-up

A 2008 Straggler

2009-01-12T21:55:00.002-05:00

I can finally show one of my projects that has been done for about a month or so but was a gift that I only just now was able to give to my friend.

These are the Icewine Mittens knit in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. I would have taken photos of me modeling them myself but apparently I have freakishly large hands and luckily Meg has petite hands so that my slightly on the small side mittens, fit her just right. I have to remember to go up at least a needle size (or two) from what the pattern states since I tend to knit a wee bit tight when doing stranded work.

I really like the way they came out and Meg seemed to as well. But then again I had just had one of my favorite comfort food meals (meatloaf and mashed potatoes) and a yummy beer at The Publick House so maybe I just imagined she liked it since I was so perfectly content.

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-03T18:04:00.005-05:00

I am a few days late in ringing in the new year blogwise. I kept writing and deleting and writing and deleting a post on my New Years Resolutions. The "Big Resolutions" are all sealed up and will not be opened until next New Years Eve. But there is kind of one theme or more like a motto that I have adopted for this year, "No Excuses"

I am the truly a queen of making excuses. I will grab my gym bag in the morning and will have come up with six reasons why I can't go that night by the time I make it work. I do it with lots of things not just the gym and that is the habit I need to break. I have art that needs frames, a table to be refinished, rooms to be painted and the list goes on.

So 2009 is the year of "No Excuses". I have been to the gym twice in the new year and it's only the 5th! That's huge! But then again so is my ass....

So you will be seeing some long languishing home decorating projects here on the blog. And of course more knitting! It felt like I knit a whole lot more than the following mosaic shows I am pretty proud of myself for trying some new things: lace, stranded work with some silly projects thrown in for fun. Oh, and my niece loved the knit food I gave her. Did you know fairies really like strawberries? And I have one more 2008 project to post but I haven't sent them off to Meg yet I had to wait for her to return from visiting the penguins in Antarctica! But if you peek you may see it below!

Fleece on Earth, Goodwill Toward All

2008-12-28T23:09:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a very happy holiday. I spent a few days at the house in the woods up in Maine. I did a little outlet shopping, took some naps, drank cocoa, played with my niece and in general recharged my batteries which were dangerously low.

Clearly my family picked up on my growing knitting obsession this year as it seemed as if sheepy gifts were all the rage. I did tell them earlier that I was not going to be one of those "sheep people" who fills their home with all manner of sheepy decorations. But apparently they couldn't help themselves!

There was a metal wall sculpture and a little wickery sheep from my mom.

From my sister I got this awesome print from RainyPrints and.....

this beautiful spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs. I love it and started spinning with it right away. I definitely have switched to being a top whorl kinda girl.

I Scream, You Scream....

2008-12-21T23:50:00.003-05:00

It was a snowy weekend here in Boston and I saw no good reason to venture out and face the elements. So I was able to finish up my niece's play food present. Since I had only made fruits for her I figured she could use some sweets to balance things out. The pattern is Scooped which has different cones and different ice cream - really anything your ice cream enthusiast needs. I was going to make my niece mint chocolate chip her favorite (and mine!) but alas no mint green in the stash so she will have to survive with a vanilla soft serve and a tutti fruitti or bubblegum single scoop.

Happy Hannukah!!!

Tag, I'm It

2008-12-13T14:14:00.006-05:00

I have been a bad blogger this past week or so. I have been working on stuff but they are gifts for some of the 10 or so real life people who reads this blog. Then my friend Jenny tagged me with a meme, my first. So here goes.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was working at a hotel in Cambridge, MA in the accounting department. I wish I could say I was doing something interesting and fabulous but I was working, hanging out after work with my friend Campbell who worked in Room Service and drinking Cosmopolitans thinking I was way more sophisticated than I actually was.

2)What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Since I am writing this at 6:30 at night I am adding things that were on my list that I actually got done.

Go to Windsor Button to buy yarn to knit my brother a scarf. Check! I got a couple of skeins of Cascade 220 in a really nice grey.
Pick pattern and cast on for said scarf. I am leaning toward the Irish Hiking Scarf which is a little insane since I would like to have this done next week and I can surely get a nice ribbed scarf done faster than cables but if he's getting a knitted project from me I may as well go all out.
Read blogs, last week at work they updated the security software so I can't read any personal blogs and the feeds are blocked through Google Reader. Bastards!
Call Non-Crafty Meg. She leaves tomorrow for South America and Antarctica. She then will have been on all 7 continents! How cool is she?
Go to bed at a decent hour. I have an awful habit of staying up way too late for no really good reason and then I oversleep in the morning where inevitably I start day by yelling "SHIT!" and proceed to run around the apartment like a mad woman.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Chips and salsa, hummus and pita bread (lately I am loving the artichoke-y one), Pirate's Booty, cheese and crackers (a nice mahon or smoked gouda are always faves with me)

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Obviously I'd give lots of money to charities I feel strongly about. I'd give my folks money that they would have to spend on themselves to go off and travel without ever thinking about they price of anything, but they would anyway. Now onto the self-indulgent stuff I would buy a villa on the Amalfi coast of Italy. It has a red terra cotta tile roof and amazing ceramic tiles on the back terrace that looks over the Mediterranean. (Not that I've thought about this at all!) I will also have a small apartment in Paris, a girl needs a place in the city. I would take classes about things that just struck my fancy - art history, business, languages, sculpture whatever!

5) Places I have lived

Wellesley, MA,

Newton, MA

Atlanta, GA

Brookline, MA

Brighton, MA

7) 5 peeps I wanna know more about

Nell, Donna, Marsy, Celeste , Sara

A Monkey on My Back, I Mean Bag

2008-12-01T02:16:00.003-05:00

Well, I didn't get as much done as I hoped this weekend unless you count napping and watching Battlestar Galactica. But I am almost finished with one gift and I made a little something for myself. I dusted off the sewing machine, found some fabric I had picked up at last years Bazaar Bizarre and scanned the internet for drawstring bag tutorials and voila! my own cute new project bag to carry around my knitting.

I went through a bit of a sock monkey phase a while back so of course I have one handy that I made to model with the new bag.

Gobble, gobble.

2008-11-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

I've been slacking on blogging since I was busy with stuff and celebrating my birthday. My birthday usually falls on or very close to Turkey Day. So my friends are often traveling for the holiday and my birthday has a tendency to get lost. But not this year, this year I spent it in the company of good friends, good food and tasty cocktails. So tomorrow is just Thanksgiving, no candles in the sweet potato, no Happy Bird-day cards.s Just family and a wonderful meal.

So what will I be doing the day after Thanksgiving? The idea of heading to the stores at 5am on Friday is so amazingly perverse to me so you know you won't catch me waiting in line to get into Best Buy or Walmart. I would rather sleep in, put up a pot of coffee and knit and sew and and stitch and nap and watch DVDs. I have some ideas for some handmade gifts for the holidays and a few other things so I hope to make a good dent in them this weekend. There, now I have said it I have to follow through lest I get comments saying what a slacker I am.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow with family and friends eating too much and taking turkey-induced naps. I myself will be munching on my mom's kick-ass sweet potato biscuits and I am sure to eat way too many.

For those of you outside the U.S., well....Happy Thursday! Woo!

Some Kitchen Stitchin'

2008-11-18T07:31:00.001-05:00

A few months back, I wrote about the Kitchen-Aid mixer I bought. Here it is , happy in it's new home...

But I realized once it got home that since my kitchen is decorated in blue and yellow I needed to add a bit of red accent to go with the mixer. So I pulled out my trusty Sublime Stitching patterns and started stitching a tea towel. I have stitiched the Diner Girl a few times before but never on anything I kept for myself and of course, I had to have a little red mixer on it.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

2008-11-17T01:25:00.002-05:00

I went to the Guild meeting this month where Susan Gibbs from the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm was our speaker. She gave a great talk with ridiculously cute animal photos. The title of her talk was "Why Knitting Matters Now" and she gave me my new favorite quote, "When the revolution comes, I'll be warm". And before you get all crazed that she is advocating a revolt. relax. What she was talking about was in this time of economic upheaval there is something about being able to fulfill a basic need by yourself.

So in that vein I am even more prepared because I can make yarn!!!

My sister gave me some drop spindles that she had (I had no idea that she had once dabbled in spinning). At Rhinebeck I picked up some beautiful roving and Jenny was going to teach me how to use my spindle. Only it turns out my spindle is a bottom whorl and Jenny had only ever used a top whorl and we had some difficulties. (Insert your own dirty top vs bottom jokes here - we sure as hell did). So I decided to take a lesson with an expert and went to see Lucy at Mind's Eye Yarns.

So check it out--- my first handspun!! And a new addiction was born.

Roving

Handspun!!!

Porom

2008-11-11T20:56:00.004-05:00

Hello y'all! I flew down to Atlanta for the wedding of a college friend this past weekend and it sounds like I still have a little southern accent in my ears. I love it. I would trade that lilt of a southern voice for a Bostons accent any day any time. The weather there is about a month or so behind Boston so it was nice see the leaves all in full color and to hear folks commenting how chilly it was getting(it was in the 60s).

It definitely was not the weather for my latest finished project, Porom designed by Brooklyn Tweed. Since I have naturally curly hair, a la Frieda from Peanuts, finding winter hats has always been a problem for me. But then this pattern was published and the model had curly hair!!!! So I knew I wanted to make it and I had a strong idea of what kind of yarn I wanted to use, natural undyed wool or some sort. So I went with this really nice llama wool that I bought specifically for this project at Rhinebeck.

It's a great pattern, very well written and a quick knit and it looks good on me. I may even mke aa second one of a slightly thinner yarn to show off the lace pattern. I wish I could post a photo of me wearing it but you know what's harder to do than take a photo of yourself? Taking a photo of the back of your own head.

Is Something Going On Today?

2008-11-04T12:32:00.003-05:00

Happy Election Day!

I've voted! Only about a 35 minute wait at 7am this morning. Usually there is no wait at my polling place but I figure it wasn't too bad and I am glad to see a big turnout. As I was waiting, I knit a few inches of another square for the Pine Street Inn Knit-A-Thon. Really, how do people manage waiting in lines without knitting? I do miss the old school voting booths with the curtains, I remember going in them with my mom as a kid and her letting me move the levers.

My feeling on voting on this, you don't vote - you don't get to complain. And we all know I love bitching too much to give up that right. Of course there is no complaining in Sarahland since I am a benevolent dictator and treat my citizens quite well. Well, unless they spit but then they deserve my wrath.

Outside of Sarahland everyone is pretty worked up about this election but I don't think I can sit through a whole night of talking heads with their maps, screens, polls and predictions.... I think I may have to program my own alternative Election Night tv viewing. I am thinking maybe some Pinky and The Brain, a quest for power at its most pure - narf! Then followed with a bit of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. And since I love theme meals I think I may have to go with some all-American comfort food for dinner, chicken and dumplin's.

I figure at this point you have all been told to vote by a gazillion different people and things so you don't need me telling you too. And if you're not in the US y'all are probably so sick of us and this incredibly loooooong process. But I will tell you that Starbucks is giving out free coffee if you vote and Ben & Jerry's free ice cream. So if the democratic process isn't a good enough reason for you then free eats should be.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T12:31:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Halloween. Since I have no crafts of my own to show off, I am going to let my nepotism run wild and lead you over to my sister's blog, so you can see the Halloween costume she made for my adorable niece. She's just booo-tiful!!! Sorry needed to throw a Halloween pun in here somewhere.

Really, between having a crafty mom and auntie the kid is pretty lucky.

Rhinebeck!!!

2008-10-22T20:48:00.004-04:00

I am back from my trip to Rhinebeck with my friends Ariel and Jenny and it has taken me a few days just to rest and recover before being able to get to the computer to post. For those unfamiliar with this event of fiber-y goodness, the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival, it takes place in Rhinebeck, NY, so hence it is just referred to as "Rhinebeck". A fact that kept confusing Jenny who could not comprehend how anyone could mention the word Rhinebeck and not be referring to the wool festival.

The whole event was truly a feast for the senses. The Hudson Valley area of NY in autumn is just gorgeous.

Then throw in the smells and tastes of fair food: fried dough, chicken pot pie, fudge, maple syrup cotton candy (yummy!), all that plus they had wine and cheese tastings. Really people! Yarn and cheese, does it get any better?

But most of all there was yarn, fabulous, colorful, soft, roll around naked in, yarn. There were just buildings and buildings of vendors with such pretty things to touch and see. Most of the yarn was from small farms and independent dyers. I think I was pretty restrained in my shopping but did add to my stash with absolutely no idea what I am going to use some of this for and I don't care! I don't usually buy without a specific project in mind so I think this was really good for me.

Saturday night was the ravelry party and I think someone said there were nearly 700 people there! We initially were way early so we stopped at a local diner for an amazing burger and chocolate milkshake. So we ended up getting to the party a bit late but we did get goodie bags! Since it was so very chilly we took refuge in one of the tents with heaters and hung out with the wonderful folks of the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm.

Diner

Ravelry cupcakes

Now for the photos you are really waiting for....yarn!!!!

Socks That Rock

Alpaca light fingering weight, the softest thing ever! I literally cradled it in my arms and stroked it as I waited to pay for it. I have adopted it as my new pet and I think we are just going to sit on the couch and watch tv together. Far less maintenance than a cat or bunny.

Lluxury Llama, the only thing I bought with a specific pattern in mind

Best bargain of the day, this 100% wool cranberry fingering weight heather with blue flecks that I figured had to have something wrong with it since it was so reasonable!

I finally found a cute vase to show off the colorful needles my grandma gave me.

A Harlot in Church

2008-10-16T12:15:00.001-04:00

I have to say the new fiber guild in Boston, Common Cod Fiber Guild, has started off to a very good start. Last month the inaugural speaker was Franklin Habit. Very funny and started knitting while in college in Boston (fine, Cambridge) so bonus points for that.

And last night I got to see The Yarn Harlot. While I will admit to not being one of her more obsessive fans (I read her when I remember to, not religiously on a daily basis - I save that for Crazy Aunt Purl) I have to say if you ever get a chance to see her then go, do it. She is so very funny, she says "arse" a lot and talks all canadian and stuff and brings a group of really talented knitters together. One woman had a lace shawl made with her own handspun that was so fine and beautiful and of such a gorgeous color. As one of my friends put it, " If I made that I would just sit around naked all day and wear just that." Did I mention that The Harlot was speaking in a church? This all just gets me more excited to go to Rhinebeck this weekend and see all the goodies peoplehave made and fondle lots and lots of yarn. And there will be bunnies! But I am not talking home no matter how cute and soft they are.

Sorry these photos aren't the best, lighting in a church is apparently not focused on picture taking.

Ariel and Anna

Signing

With Coffee

Fruit of the Loom... well, needles...

2008-10-14T02:09:00.006-04:00

I like to think I am pretty savvy. I have a healthy cynical streak that keeps me from falling for internet scams, magic cure-all pills and get rich quick schemes. But I will admit when I've been played. Oh yeah, and by a master manipulator at that. I got played by a four-year-old.

I gave my niece one of my felted pumpkins at dinner the other night. She adored it and could not stop playing with it; hugging it, admiring it and in one case looking like a chicken laying an egg with it. At that point I was literally in tears laughing so hard. But it was not until the next night that I fell into her trap.

This time we are at my sister's house and my niece is serving us pie from her pie shop. (Imaginary pie payable with imaginary money. I tried to pay in hugs and it was a no-go, she's a shrewd business-owner). So she serves me a special new pie flavor she's made up, Pumpkin-Oreo (I had knit her an Oreo in the past so she made an imaginary pie of just Auntie Sarah knits.) So I innocently ask her "Would you like me to make you other knit foods?" She replies "I loooooooove when you knit me things" with a smile that could melt the polar ice caps. That was it, I was a goner, it was like in The Grinch when his heart grew 3 sizes that day...

So really I had no choice to start making fruit (good pie-fillings) in a knitting frenzy. I figure by the time the holidays roll around I will be able to stock her toy kitchen and pie store with a Whole Foods worth of play food. For pattern details check out my ravelry projects.

Goats On Film

2008-10-08T15:56:00.005-04:00

For those of you who are Duran Duran fans and are wincing at my title of this post, I'm sorry.

Recently I got the chance to visit the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm . Home of the first yarn CSA and some super cute goats. For those who are unfamiliar with CSA concept, you buy a share of the yarn and then get a portion of the fiber at "harvest" time. Susan the Shepherdess is so cool and it's just an amazing concept I was forced to buy a skein of yarn for myself on my visit (photos to come) I am not a shareholder but wouldn't a share make an awesome birthday present (hint, hint for any family members reading along).

Also about a month ago I saw a mention on one of the many craft blogs I read about the Intel Need A Tech Makeover Contest. I actually forwarded it to my mom kidding that we should enter her 'cause her PC is soooo old. We like to say she's not on the Information Highway but selling boiled peanuts on the dirt road off the Information Highway. I didn't enter Mom but it turns out the MVFF entered and are looking at using the tech upgrade to add webcams so we viewers at home can check out the goats in action. So go on and vote for them right here. You don't need to register or anything just click it says "like it?" next to the number of votes they currently have.

Now to the best part of this post, cute goat pics. Feel free to ooh and aah amongst yourselves.

Break Out the Candy Corn

2008-10-06T21:25:00.007-04:00

So the other day a friend sent me an email of Halloween patterns because well, she knows I love the silly. And then it hit me. I have not knit anything stuffed in many months! Since Halloween is coming ,I decided to make last year's silliness an annual tradition. So I present the Second Annual Sarahland version of It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

First I knit up some miniature pumpkins.

Then it's time for the auditions for the role of Linus.

First up, Mr. Peabody. I think he may be a bit too cerebral to believe in The Great Pumpkin.

Next, Gumby & Pokey. They do have the right color scheme to hide in the pumpkin patch incognito while waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

And last but not least The Little Prince. He may be the front runner.

So who do you think should be this year's Linus?

Rainbows are Visions but Only Illusions

2008-10-01T20:10:00.003-04:00

So I was heading out of work tonight and I looked up there was this huge full rainbow that seemed to span a good part of the city. I had no choice but to stand in the parking lot and take cell phone photos.

Random Quiz Day

2008-09-23T12:40:00.003-04:00

I don't think I've ever put a random quiz on my blog and but the blog has been red focused for the last week I figured I'd go all xmas on y'all and give you a splash of green. The emotional and moody part sounds about right with the week I've been having. And if you hate me don't post any mean comments.

You Are Emerald Green

Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you.

Inside, you are very emotional and moody - though you don't let it show.

People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate.

But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There's something naturally harmonious about you.

What Color Green Are You?

Branching Out

2008-09-21T20:59:00.003-04:00

I have dipped my toes in the lace knitting waters. I had the Silky Wool that I erroneously bought for my stranded mittens and instead of storing it away in the Rubbermaid tub that houses my stash I kept it out with Branching Out in mind.

There were a few false starts and I had to frog it completely a couple of times but after a few pattern repeats I was good to go. I learned that lace knitting is better suited to do at home since apparently talking and following the pattern was a bit tough for me. And in one instance I learned lace knitting , talking and drinking beer definitely is a bad thing that forced me to rip back a few rows. I still have to block it but I couldn't wait to show it off.

The Close-Up

In other exciting knitting news a couple members of Team Dive Bar Worship and I are heading to Rhinebeck!

Getting My Mix On

2008-09-16T12:28:00.006-04:00

All bow down to the the Benevolent Dictator of Sarahland who this week is also the Princess of Deals. I got this shiny, new KitchenAid mixer for a whopping $-10. What negative $10? Yes, between using some credit card points, online surveys paid with gift certificates and a rebate I come out $10 ahead. Pretty sweet. I clearly have the family genetics where I love a good deal. It really is a bit of a rush. Luckily I have learned from my ancestors and only buy what I actually need/really, really want.

Maybe when the mixer arrives I will bake my subjects some cookies.

Is that Fall I Smell?

2008-09-09T08:55:00.003-04:00

If my blog were a teenage girl it would have serious self-esteem issues. I give it lots of attention for a while and then completely ignore it. But we could also watch Gossip Girl together and braid each other's hair so that would be cool.

I wish I could say I was off doing something fun these past few weeks but in reality they sucked. Not for me directly (except for the usual suckage that is work) but for my family. My folks walked in on their house being robbed (they are okay), there were a couple of medical scares (again everyone okay) and one pre-schooler with vomiting issues. Given the fact that I am a bit superstitious, neurotic and definitely a worry-er; I kept waiting for something awful to happen to me, dwelling on how horrible things could have been and what we would have done then and worrying about my family all at the same time.

But that is all in the past, you know why? Because yesterday it started to feel like fall here! Fall is my favorite season and autumn in New England is really just wonderful. Not that I was ready for the Halloween cookie dough I started seeing at the supermarket in mid-August but now that we are in the double digits of September I am ready to embrace it. Bring on the apple cider and tweedy wools! The new knitty is up and I have things I must add to the queue. The fall tv season has started and there are premieres to watch and then bet on how long the show will last on the air.

Internet Therapy

2008-08-27T12:14:00.003-04:00

I was having a crappy morning at work; boredom, frustration, that guy who won't stop tapping his pen, ya know the usual. Then I read the latest post on The Toy Society and I felt a little happier. Something about the idea that there is a little girl out there who believes fairies leave stuffed animals for people to find just lightened me up a little.

And that post led me to this post on Sheeps Clothing blog about a wool stealing cat and who knows what I'll find next.

I think if I keep clicking away during my lunch hour and I will be in much better spirits for stitch n' bitch tonight.

My Moment on the Podium

2008-08-19T22:43:00.006-04:00

**Cue the National Anthem of Sarahland**

I am proud and honored to accept my medals in the following events: A gold in Cross Country Colorwork and another gold (natch) for The Mitten Medley.

They may have ended up a wee bit smaller than will actually fit on my hands but I am sure to find someone who will gladly accept them. I am quite proud of work and really enjoyed doing them. You know what that means, this year mittens for everyone!

Here's the Dish

2008-08-11T21:41:00.003-04:00

Before I get to my ravelympics update I realized I never posted photos of my last project. My friend the daftcrafter asked for some pattern testers for her first pattern ever!!! It's The Mod Dishtowel that was a fun quick knit and looks oh so cute in my kitchen. My photos don't do it justice but it really is a funky pattern. She is due to post the pattern soon so check back soon. Oh also please ignore my grimy stove.

Now a quick ravelympics update. I cast on and knit a inches and then ripped it all out. I decided I didn't like the way the Silky Wool was knitting up, just slightly nubby so the pattern didn't come out crisp enough. So I was forced, forced I tell you, to buy some new yarn today. I went with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light and started again. Oh and by the way, why didn't anyone tell me how awesome Magic Loop is? I may never use DPN's again.

Is That a Torch in Your Pocket?

2008-08-07T12:33:00.005-04:00

All the training. All the sweat. All the tears. It all comes down to this. Nations come together to compete in events so challenging the world just stops and watches. It's....

For those of you who don't know what the Ravelympics here is the basic premise. You can not cast on until the opening ceremonies and you must be finished by the closing ceremonies and the project should be a challenge to finish in those 17 days. There are teams to join but apparently I don't play well with others since I am going solo on this. Nah, none of the teams were groups I was already involved with but had there been a Team Dive Bar Worship I would so be there.

I have decided to compete in two events (albeit with just one project) The Mitten Medley and The Colorwork Crosscountry by knitting The Squirrel and Oak Mittens by Hello Yarn.

Yes, this will be my first time doing magic loop, first hard core chart reading and my first serious stranding project - hence the challenge. But I'm up for it. I've been training (last night at SnB I worked on a practice piece) and reading a lot about stranding techniques so I am ready-ish.

Oh, I hear a bunch of people in China are doing some stuff too during that time period. Maybe I'll order take-out tomorrow in their honor....mmmm.....scallion pancakes.

Froggy Went a' Courtin'

2008-07-31T12:39:00.008-04:00

A few months back I started knitting the Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits. I love the colorway of the Cascade 220 that I chose and according to lots of people's notes in ravelry it's a quick knit. I was making a few modifications but nothing that should have taken me very long. But for some reason I wasn't that into it and it got pushed aside as I did other things, and then it got too hot too touch wool. But finally last week I was motivated, I was going to finish this project. But as I neared finishing the first strappy thing and tried it on to see how long I should make it I realized there was a problem.

How do I say this delicately? My boobs. They are not nearly HUGE enough for this vest. I mean they would have to be surpassing Anna Nicole or Pam Anderson to fit in this vest and while there is nothing wrong with having ta-tas that big I just don't got 'em. (My brother-in-law has now closed the screen in awkward TMI silence).

I really have no idea how I made it that big but I made this in such starts and stops over such a long period of time that really elves could have come overnight knit a few short rows and I wouldn't have noticed.

So now it sits sadly mocking me and I think I will have to frog it to put it out of its misery and mine. Ribbit, ribbit. Maybe I'll try again at some point but for now I have some other projects in the works and a big challenge for the Ravelympics. Oh yeah, I'm that big a goober.

Word Up

2008-07-27T00:36:00.003-04:00

I can see this being a good source of time-wasting fun....Wordle. You can have it pull words from your blog. Here's mine.

The Barge

2008-07-24T12:37:00.002-04:00

In my family I have to say that we love us some pop culture. I love that my Entertainment Weekly is waiting for me in the mailbox every Friday evening and it is fully read and in the recycling bag long before I go to work on Monday.

I am the one that my mom calls to ask, "I watched a tv show and there's this guy who looks familiar and I think he was in a show with that other guy and maybe they were cops or lawyers and the theme was really catchy? Ya know who I'm talking about, right? " And usually after a few questions to narrow things down, What network? What night? Reruns? What decade? I probably do know who she's talking about. I love the challenge of a difficult Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and there is probably way too many of my brain cells used up by knowing the names of made-for-tv- movies starring Tori Spelling. (The classic being "Mother May I Sleep With Danger?) I love to hear the details of upcoming projects from Joss Whedon or J.J. Abrams. And if you are unsure of who those last 2 guys are, you will be a quite lost (hint, hint) in a conversation between me and my brother-in-law. And in those conversations it is not unusual to hear the phrase, "They are so on the barge!"

Ah, The Barge. The barge came about many years ago when there was a news story about a trash barge that was just sailing up and down the east coast because no city would let it into port and dump it's trash in their landfill. So somehow I decided that I would have a barge for those famous people that I just bug me and want them to just be floating around out there out of my way.

Most people come and go off my barge as need warrants; some are obvious - Ben Affleck was there during the age of "Bennifer", Paris Hilton when she went to jail thing or Donald Trump anytime he randomly insults Rosie O'Donnell. Really on any given day the passengers change. But there are some permanent fixtures....

Martha Stewart -her voice just drives me crazy and she's so condescending! I like to think she's happy passing out hordes d'oeuvre's to the other passengers.
Sharon Stone - really why is she so respected as an actress? She has made far more many crappy movies than good ones (Casino). I just can't understand it so on the barge she goes.
Meryl Streep - before you yell at me, I just can't seem to get past the whole Kramer vs. Kramer character and the fact that she's "the greatest actress of our time" and can do a lot of accents will not change my mind. It's my barge and she's on it.

That is the thing about the barge, each person's is theirs and theirs alone. So while my sister's includes Adam Sandler (he just bugs her), mine doesn't. There are only two rules of the barge....Rule 1, don't criticize someone else's choices. Rule 2, the barges are non-violent. You can't blow them up or stage a celebrity deathmatch. I had to create this rule for my dad who kept wanting to take a bazooka to his.

So is there some celebrity who just makes you nuts for no apparent reason. Put them on your barge.

A Bite of the Apple

2008-07-14T19:23:00.009-04:00

So I am back from a weekend in NYC visiting my friend Meg who has recently moved there. She is doing great except for a growing addiction to Tasti D Lite. After a slight delay in getting there when the megabus broke down, I arrived last Friday afternoon with some time to kill before Meg finished up work so I having done my homework beforehand on yarn stores I headed over to Knitty City. A truly charming store, with oodles of pretty yarn and a great vibe. I was surprised by how many people kept dropping in on a hot Friday afternoon in July. They had some great sounding classes coming up, if I lived in New York that would surely be my yarn store.

While I was knitting, Meg was getting us tickets to see Spring Awakening. I loved the music by Duncan Sheik. And there was the bare ass of a cutie 20 year old guy!

The next day we headed to Williamsburg for some for brunch and then stumbled upon the Brooklyn Brewery.

Mmm....beer tanks.

We ended up at Union Square Greenmarket where the vendors were selling wines, produce and in one bizarre tent both the lamb's wool yarn and the lamb itself for consumption. Don't worry I only took a photo of the yarn, not the meat.

As we headed back to Meg's apartment we could hear the free Bon Jovi in Central Park. Cue "You Give Love a Bad Name" here.

I may have to create a new treaty for Sarahland with the truly noble house of Barney Greengrass, The Sturgeon King. Really anyone who makes a lox, onions and eggs that good deserves to be king.

And finally we got to give Meg's new string bag out for a test drive at the farmer's market Sunday morning. It's a mix of the Everlasting Bagstopper and the Fantasy Naturale Market Bag.

Close up

All in all a wonderful weekend that I can't wait to repeat sometime soon.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

2008-07-09T16:17:00.006-04:00

First off, I'm an idiot. I go to the Stitch n Pitch at the Lowell Spinners game on Monday and I forget my camera. Duh! But what? You're saying, "you're not an idiot Sarah, anyone could do that." To which I respond, oh yes I am, for it just hit me now, nearly 48 hours later, that I have a camera phone! And I could have used that to take at least one low resolution kinda blurry photo of the wonderful knitters around me. But alas, no photos, maybe I'll steal one of Ariel's who took a whole bunch so go check out her blog. That's my hand knitting the blue and green string bag!

While the Spinners themselves got thumped by the Jamestown Jammers things were much happier in the stands where a great crowd of knitters enjoyed themselves and got their stitch on. It was a great site seeing all those needles at work. The feeling of community was just great. As people walked by to get snacks they peeked at your projects and asked what project you were working on. Jess probably managed to convince a few non-knitters to give it a try or buy a share in a yarn CSA. I love minor league parks because everyone seems so friendly at them, must be only having to pay $7 a ticket and the short beer lines.

And since we know I love my presents it was awesome that I walked out with more yarn than I came in with! They were giving out prizes and I won a skein of festive cotton yarn. Plus as an added bonus, we were given pins and stickers by Jess and Casey, the ravelry creators themselves. A mention on Crazy Aunt Purl's blog and now a brush with the code monkey and mamarav it truly has been quite a month for me and knitting rock stars!

The House in the Woods

2008-07-06T21:57:00.004-04:00

Well, I am back from the wilds of Maine where I spent the holiday weekend. You've got to love a town where when the phone rings on the 4th of July it's the neighbors letting you know that a wild turkey and her babies are walking down the street.

I spent a lot of time doing my favorite activities, eating yummy breakfasts of waffles or pancakes and watching birdies out the windows. Below are my favorites the gold finch.

There were also a ton of humming birds but as much as I stalked them Sunday afternoon for a photo they could sense my presence and flitted away. As did the chipmunk and the blue jays and the dumb little chickadees who were confused by trying to drink out of the humming bird feeder. Cute birds but not the smartest. It is not unheard of for a chickadee to bonk into the kitchen window when overshooting the bird feeders. Don't worry they are okay, just a bit dazed for a moment.

I got absolutely no knitting done even with a last minute run to Woolcott when I realized I left my current project at home. I was forced, (forced I tell you!) to buy some Silky Wool for stranded mittens. I did finish "The Friday Night Knitting Club", an enjoyable read. I read most of it while sitting on the deck enjoying the view and my laughing companion. No, not my giggling niece although she can crack her self up. But this guy.

I did manage to get my ass in gear for an afternoon in Portland where I visited the Portland Fiber Gallery and Knit Wit . Both lovely shops that I hope to return to when I have more time. And in visiting the Fiber Gallery which has spinning supplies it came up in conversation that my sister has four drop spindles. How did I not know this? So I may have to borrow one and try my hand at spinning.

Well, I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Splish, Splash

2008-06-09T21:38:00.004-04:00

I realized I hadn't posted a finished project in quite some time because I well I hadn't actually finished anything in a long time. But aha, I finally finished something!

For some inexplicable reason I have wanted to knit Absorba from Mason Dixon Knitting ever since I borrowed the book from my friend um, four, five, six months ago. (You'll have that back this Wednesday!) I mean it's a bathmat, who really, really wants to knit a bathmat? Well, me apparently. It's knit in green apple that matches my shower curtain almost perfectly. I thought about making it in all the colors of the shower curtain but I thought that it would get a bit busy and the last thing I need at 6am is to get motion sickness from looking at the floor of my bathroom.

A nice, easy project knit in log cabin style knit with 3 strands of Peaches & Creme double worsted - super cushy under my toes! And it forced me to clean my bathroom since I couldn't put my new bathmat on a dirty floor!

MA Sheep & Wool or Bahhhh Part 2

2008-05-26T21:39:00.005-04:00

I spent a wonderful Saturday at the Mass Sheep and Woolcraft Festival with some great company. On the way we stopped at Webs (my first time there) where I got lost in the back warehouse for a while. Whoops! And I also enjoyed another first, Taco in a Bag! How have I lived without this culinary masterpiece?

Of course I had to seek out some wonderful angora bunnies to hold. This little fella had just been adopted by a nice lady who was taking him home.

And this adorable poof of a thing I got to hold for a bit.

Here is the fabulous daft crafter, modeling this year's fashion of soft, luxurious roving in a gorgeous colorway.

More colorful roving.

Lovely Llama

I'll have to keep you waiting with baited breath for the photos of my purchases.

Stamp and Deliver

2008-05-15T23:26:00.006-04:00

So I've got some more projects from Craft Camp to show off. I took Mucho Gusto Grande taught by Traci Bunkers. For you fiber people out there besides just making cool journals, books, rubberstamps and etc she also spins and dyes yarn. It's sure is pur-ty. Anyway, back to class. This was the only class I ever took with my sister and we had a good time. We weren't too obnoxious and giggly even though my sister was a bit tipsy after the Manager's Reception a.k.a. Happy Hour. Here's a do not try this at home message for you kiddies out there --rum and linoleum cutters are not a wise move. No siblings were injured during the course of class but since both of us are extremenly squeemish at the sight of blood, we got lucky. So here are the stamps I made and the last one is the one I made for my mom for mother's day. Yes, it's Sisyphus pushing a boulder up the hill. She's always wanted a stamp with him on it and even though I find it depressing who am I to deny her? The stamps are a little rough around the edges, literally, but it's a fun quick project that I don't suck at.

Butterfly Wings and Angels, NOT

2008-05-06T21:09:00.003-04:00

I am back from Art & Soul a.k.a. Craft Camp and I have my first project to share. My first class was Beeswax ATC taught by Barbara McGuire. Essentially it was creating Artist Trading cards and then covering them with wax. For those who don't know what an ATC is, an atc is a small work of art most often paper but sometimes fabric or another medium. The rules of ATCs are this, they must be 2 1/2" by 3 1/2 inches and you can't sell them only exchanged. For more info on what an ATC is check out the FAQ on the ATC board on craftster.

Anyway I have never made any ATC's before and to be honest I never really thought they were my thing. But being the smartass that I am I took the some of the often used elements of ATCs and put my own spin on it.

Bahhhh.....

2008-04-27T23:52:00.004-04:00

Clearly I have sheep on the sheep on the brain due to Gore Place Sheep Sheering Festival. To get myself prepared for sheepy goodness I made some silly sheep. I may have finally mastered that tricky french knot.

So then I was off to Gore Place with some of my knitter friends to eat fair food, check out cute livestock and pet some yarn. Success achieved on all counts.

The Alpacas one pre-sheering, one post, I always think sheered alpacas look like fuzzy lollipops.

Cute lambies.

4H Bunny, not Nugget who I formed an immediate bond with and wanted to take home in my bag, but another cute bun. I forgot how much I love holding bunnies!

No matter what the other goats did this guy would not come out of his hiding place.

And finally my splurge of the day, this gorgeous cashmere yarn made from reclaimed sweaters. Me, buying yarn with no specific project in mind, a step forward in my stash acquisition.

My Blue Heaven

2008-04-25T12:00:00.004-04:00

There's been a lot of home decorating talk going on in Sarahland recently. Between friends moving; looking for new apartments in far off lands :( , visiting the apartments of new friends for the first time and seeing the kick-ass way my sister's house has come together over the past few months, I have decorating on the brain. And when something is on my brain it also ends up on my blog reader.

I think my current favorite design blog is design*sponge. I especially like that they do DIY examples every Wednesday and Before and After's every Thursday. This taps into my crafty and thrifty sides with one of my favorite mantras "I can do that".

I recently stumbled across some "before" and "after" pictures I took of my kitchens chairs that I redid several years ago. Pre-digital camera, film pictures that I had planned to do something with to showcase my handiwork , but clearly never did. So I scanned those puppies and sent them off to design sponge and who knows maybe they'll be on the site some Thursday or maybe not. But it did remind me how proud of myself I was when I finished them and hopefully will inspire me to work on those other projects ruminating in my head or sitting half-done in my entryway. Whoops!

So here's the back story on the chairs. I was watching some tv sitcom and I saw blue kitchen chairs and decided that was what I wanted. But this was before everyone had embraced color in a big, bold way and I was clearly ahead of the curve. The only ones I saw were at the Crate & Barrel outlet up north and there were only 3 of them. Having only having 3 kitchen chairs was just wrong, uneven, unbalanced and just wouldn't do. So my quest continued.

Fortunately I am the child of antique dealers/pack rats/very weird people and my folks had these wooden chairs in the garage in Maine. So I picked up some paint at the local hardware store, some fabric at Fabric Place and voila - blue chairs! And to be even cuter a matching valance for the window. It wasn't really as easy it sounds as I recall a minor painting snafu (spray paint vs. brushes, brushes won - a graffiti artist I will never be) and there definite assistance from my mom since she is the one with the staple gun and the sewing machine (this was back in my pre-sewing machine owning days). Only thing that nags at me a little is that I wish I had bought more fabric to make a cafe curtain to go with the valence but we went back for more yardage but the fabric was gone. I keep an eye out for it every time I go with no luck.

Before & After

The Whole Set and the Valence

Cute as a Button

2008-04-08T12:14:00.006-04:00

I'm having one of those bad days at work. One of those days where I put on my MP3 player and listen to the Dixie Chicks "Not Ready to Make Nice", over and over and over. So to offset the annoyance and frustration I am feeling I will post my little sillies I've been working on.

Next month my sister and I are headed back to Art & Soul a.ka.a "Craft Camp" for the second year. One of the things that people do at A&S is bring trades to well, duh, trade with people. They can be anything from ATC's (Artist Trading Cards), charms, necklaces, beads whatever. Last year I made shrinky dinks charms and magnets which some people enjoyed, others looked down on (well just one woman who refused to trade with me - bitch.) And my leftover trades made their way to the very appreciative hands of my SnB'ers. My sister made totally cute paper dolls made of recycled boxes.

At one point I thought of knitting teeny sweaters but to be honest that was just going to take more time than I have so I went with the cute but easy project of fabric covered button magnets. I came across the tutorial and handy, dandy online supply store jcaroline creative. I swear she makes me want to go trolling thrift stores just looking for chairs to re-cover.

If these magnets get scoffed at some of y'all may be getting little treats at SnB meetings in mid-May.

The Towel Makes It Home

2008-03-28T03:41:00.003-04:00

So I've been a bit of a slacker these past few weeks in terms of blogging. While I've been pretty busy in my real life I haven't had much to show for it in my crafty life. I've been knitting away on a stashbusting log cabin afghan, some mindless knitting that has been keeping me warm as I knit it while watching "The Wire" DVDs.

Remember several months ago I posted about a Super Secret embroidery project I was working on? Sure you do. Well just about a year ago, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the original Tea Towel Tour for Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. Well, unfortunately that towel never made its way home to Austin to the Sublime Stitching offices. Since most of y'all reading this are knitters you are probably not familiar with Jenny's work but I have always love her patterns and her work is really amazing. Not to mention to that I was able to go to an event of hers a few years back when her book came out and she is really an inspiring person for women-business owners, craft-y type people or really just anyone.

So after a six month journey across country the new towel was hand-delivered to Jenny.

Jenny Hart with the Secret Tea Towel!
Originally uploaded by burb_mama

There is some really great work on there so be sure to check out the close-ups on craftster . I mean there is a pin-up girl sitting on a wheel of cheese, people!

Think it may be time to pull out the old embroidery hoop. and learn how to balance my time between more than one craft at a time. So lookout, there may be more dancing garlic and flaming martinis coming at you soon!