Jots and Tittles

Long Weekend

2007-09-17T23:50:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend at my sister's in Pennsylvania, so we could both attend Knitters' Day Out, a great little one-day festival (also in Pennsylvania.) It's held at a small college and the day was really lovely with a few minor glitches.

High points - the hand-dyed laceweight yarn in blues and purples - we each got 1400 yards which should be enough for something! - the Lantern Moon totebag, of woven bamboo in teal and black - the Entrelac class where I actually feel I can now do simple entrelac - picking up registration materials with my sister and only having to spell our name once.

Low points - my sister's teacher for one class didn't show up and the substitute's philosophy was totally different - the iced tea at lunch was Raspberry! and Sweet! - my Platypus water bottle leaked in my knitting bag - no paper towels in the bathroom to mop up my knitting bag.

Other great things about the weekend - I saw my father and sister for the first time since my mother's death in April, and it was nice to see them comfortable together. My sister's cats were all adorable. I taught a private lesson in toe-up sock knitting and left my sister with a sock in progress.

Too Much Stuff

2007-07-07T20:12:00.000-04:00

Friends have heard me talk about The Midden where everything hides. Well, the truth is that this house was a warren of middens. With the possibility of Viv coming home soon with a walker, it was desperation time. Fortunately a wonderful friend from Vermont came down for a long weekend to lend her energy and muscle to the project, and so far we've done about 2/3 of the necessary work. This is not all the work that needs to be done but it will be enough to create walkable space. About 40 large garbage bags of STUFF have gone out so far...and I can see floor all over in the bedroom and partway down the hall (the other part is what we'll work on tomorrow before she has to leave.) Here's to good friends and lots of heavy-duty garbage bags! Best find - little earrings like books; square glass beads; 1978 passport..

Two Happy Dances

2007-06-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

The first happy dance is for the Little House Blueberries http://www.littlehouseneedleworks.com/threadpacks.html which I finished today! Hooray! These are such nice little pieces to stitch, and a fun way to collect some Crescent Colours threads. My immediate reaction was to look for the other pieces I'd purchased, and I actually found them in the bag from the shop where I'd got them. I had to decide between Peaches, Watermelon, and Cherries and Peaches won. I got a good start, a center branch and a single peach. I had cleverly put the rest of the fabric that I used for Blueberries (Silkweaver's Sand evenweave) into the bag with the other patterns, so I cut the rest of it up and put a piece in each pattern zippy bag.

The second happy dance is for my partner who's been in the hospital for a month, recovering from a staph infection and pain problems. Today she was able to get herself out of bed, put on her own shoes, walk to the bathroom and back, and watch part of the baseball game with me from a chair instead of the bed!

2007-06-11T21:40:00.000-04:00

May tagged me for the Eight Things meme:

The rules of the Meme are:
Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

1. I was married for 12 years to an electrical engineer at a Silicon Valley company. This may be a surprise to friends who only know me as a happily partnered lesbian - it was quite a journey!

2. I love music yet hardly ever listen to it. I don't know if it's because I love performing music more than just listening to it - or if it's because I just don't think about putting on a CD. Hmmm...

3. To tie in with number 2, I used to sing in small opera company productions. Roles - Luther's Wife (and chorus) in Tales of Hoffmann; Chorus (and one of the gypsy fortune-tellers) in Traviata; Chorus (and offstage giggle) in Pirates of Penzance; etc.

4. I studied ballet for 6 years and modern dance for 12.

5. My favorite music for road trips - 1950s car songs and country! I love to find country music stations away from New York - which has none.

6. I sewed lots of my own clothes in high school.

7. I studied French cooking at a winery with a French chef. I still have the recipes but since my partner is allergic to dairy and eggs, there aren't many of them I can make for us.

8. I listen to audiobooks as I go to sleep. It's like having someone read to me as I drift off. I can only do this with books that I've already read so that I'm not missing plot points.

Re tagging more people - May and Cynthia have tagged everyone I would have tagged. Sorry!

Addendum

2007-05-21T14:17:00.000-04:00

I talked to DS today. The movers who were supposed to arrive at her house in PA in the late afternoon - 3, 4, 5, something like that - they told me they'd leave about 10 am or so - didn't get there till 9 pm and didn't finish till midnight.

I really wonder what clock they're using - and what they were up to for all those hours!

A Moving Experience

2007-05-20T19:41:00.001-04:00

Yesterday my sweetie and I went up to Connecticut to help with Daddy's move out of the assisted living apartment (he's moving in with my sister in Pennsylvania, which is so great!) Viv had the idea of going up to help DS (Dear Sister) get away earlier on that long drive. The movers were originally supposed to be there between 10-12, and then said 9. We waited. We waited. DS made phone calls. We waited. We had lunch. They finally called from Danbury at about 2:30 or so. DS and Daddy met them at the storage unit for the first part of the moving at about 3:30.

When they arrived at the apartment, they had no boxes to pack the books, despite the dispatcher saying he'd send them with 150 boxes. So they had to go out and get boxes. The maintenance supervisor at the apartment was worried that they wouldn't find anyplace open. At about 5 they finally reappeared with bundles of boxes (marked U-Haul) and rolls of tape, and the boxing commenced.

They asked how long the building would be open - we told them 10, they said they wouldn't be done by then. My heart sank. After we showed them that all the drawers of all the furniture were empty, and that there were really only the books to pack, things seemed a little better. DS and Daddy decided to leave. Hugs, kisses, etc. I decided to go to the grocery store for some snacks and water for the wait for Viv and me. When I got outside, DS was on the phone with Viv. The movers were saying that they thought the distance between the door and the truck was too great, they'd have to charge more, and DS should talk to their boss. Well, their boss was unavailable. She'd been phoning all day and no one was answering and his voicemail was full. Just MOVE IT we communicated.

I got to the grocery, shopped, came back and all the boxes were done. Then they started stacking the furniture. They put things on a dolly, then they had to go through the locked door to the Alzheimers Wing, entering a code each time. The alarm went off a couple of times because the door was open too long, but we figured out how to turn it off (no one came to see what was happening.)

If this is a long post, well, it was a long day. At 9:30 they had got the final bits out into the hall by the elevator and we decided we could leave. I drove back to Brooklyn, ended with a perfect double-parking experience, and so to bed. When? Midnight.

Crafting tie-in - I did a little knitting while we waited, also looked at the Stitches East brochure with my sister, and finished several barrettes!

Brief Report

2007-05-07T23:34:00.000-04:00

My sister and I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool on Saturday. This was our second visit and we changed a few things from last time. We arrived at 8:45 instead of 11:30 - this was a great idea. We will do this again! My sister also got the show book ahead of time and we marked the vendors we especially wanted to visit. I arranged them in order by building and booth number and we were all set.

I will say that this year I noticed more porta-potties as well as more restrooms (I know there couldn't have been more restrooms, but last year it was so crowded that we couldn't see them!) One set of porta-potties also had a porta-sink outside it; you pumped the water with a little foot pump. It was nice to be able to shop with clean hands! We also noticed a porta-ATM under its own little blue tarp.

Early as we were, the line for the show products (t-shirts, bags, etc.) was already really long. Everytime we came out of a barn, we checked it, and it never got shorter, only longer. I didn't need the t-shirt that much...

We found loads of beautiful yarn, we visited all the vendors on our list and discovered some new ones which is always fun. We also got beads for stitch markers, and I got a beautiful shawl pin. Best of all, we weren't completely exhausted by the crowds and the heat this year.

I've already started a sock with the Panda Cotton that I got at the Carodan Farms booth!

Quick Update

2007-04-01T23:10:00.000-04:00

I've finished both pairs of Interminable socks! I worked on one at Tawny's yesterday and finished it up tonight. My feet are clad in Blue Bayou Apple Laine yarn socks - toe up, gull wing pattern, silk/wool/mohair/nylon blend. Pictures to come.

What's for Dinner?

2007-04-01T19:34:00.000-04:00

Tonight it was cube steaks (because we had cube steaks.) I looked at some online recipes and decided that some form of pepper steak would be nice. So here's my recipe:
2 cube steaks, cut into strips
olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 small pieces fresh ginger
2 stalks celery, sliced
About 2 frozen peppers (from a Trader Joe's package)
1 29-oz can crushed tomatoes with puree
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. glace de veau (I got a container at Fairway and hadn't used it yet)

Heat olive oil in dutch oven. Saute the meat till browned; add vegetables and cook till limpish. Add tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and glace; bring to boil. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes. Serve over cooked rice or pasta.

The beef comes out nice and tender and there's a lovely sauce for your rice/pasta/even baked potato!

Who who?

2007-03-09T20:41:00.000-05:00

I was looking for a project or two to take to the Metrostitchers gathering tomorrow, and I thought I'd go through a tote bag or two. I found 2 finished stitched owls and a lovely little robin - but they're sadly creased. Since I don't think I still have an iron I feel like I'm rather at a standstill. I'm bringing the Big Green Project and am considering dressing to match!

The Midden

2007-02-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

or, organizing by piles...
I mentioned The Midden to Cynthia in a comment and thought that perhaps all of you would like to know about my secret shame. My life, including clean clothes, stitching projects, bags full of yarn, etc. lives in a large pile at the foot of my recliner. Occasionally things get lost - they slip under the recliner - and occasionally I do a sweep under the recliner looking for things. Usually, however, I let stuff rise to the top - oh, there's the Carrots cross stitch! Oh, there's that silk ribbon yarn! It's a lovely surprise when stuff does appear and then I work on it until it vanishes again.

Interminable Socks

2007-02-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's been a long time. No particular reason, just somehow not blogging. That's all about that!

I'm working on 2 pairs of socks (1 sock each so far) and both of them seem to go on forever. Since I work toe-up, it's hard to decide how long to make the legs. One could just go till the yarn is gone and that's sort of what I'm doing. One pair is just K2P2 rib all the way; the other is a Gull Wing lace pattern that I adapted from Barbara Walker. On that one, I have to leave enough yarn for 4 rounds plain plus a bind-off.

My friend Cynthia just started her blog and perhaps that's inspiring me to get back to it - who knows?

Yes, Reading Again

2006-11-09T11:28:00.000-05:00

Wasn't this a crafting blog? What happened? What are all these books? I do have some finished pictures to post but I keep forgetting various elements. In the meantime I'm resting my hands and reading!

November 6
Totally Joe by James Howe. Joe was one of the Misfits in the earlier book by Howe (also highly recommended!) and here he gets to tell his own story in an "alphabiography." This is cute - heartwarming - touching - the story of a young gay boy who still thinks kissing someone is an icky mess, but wants to have a boyfriend. A wonderful growing-up-gay book.

November 7
Seven Spiders Spinning by Gregory Maguire. This is his first Hamlet, Vermont story, set in a school with the wonderful Miss Earth as teacher. I liked a lot of things about the book but I found the spiders sort of extraneous and I didn't like their fate. However Miss Earth and the Tattletales and the Copycats are great companions. I plan to read at least one more in the series (the next is Six Haunted Hairdos.)

November 8
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell. Wonderfully weird short stories. I realized I'd read one of the stories in the New Yorker some issues ago. The title story was absolutely the best. I don't often read adult literary fiction but this had enough fantasy elements for me to really enjoy it.

Reading Continues

2006-11-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

November 4
My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
This anthology has stories by a couple of authors I really like (Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine) and others that I didn't know that well. Harris's and Butcher's stories were set in worlds that I've come to know well from their novels. Caine used a world that I didn't recognize from the Weather Wardens series, but her tale had a nice sting in it. Spellbound by L.A. Banks was another unexpected joy. That said, I think that the Elvis story by P.N. Elrod was really wonderful!

November 5
The Iron Tower by Dennis McKiernan
I heard of an early series by Dennis McKiernan that was either very derivative of Tolkien or else (in some other stories) was written by request from the publishers who wanted a Tolkien sequel. I found the trilogy in one paperbound volume in the library basement and tried the first one, The Dark Tide. It wasn't terrible but there were so many similarities to Tolkien that I just wasn't that interested in reading the rest of it. I did skim the next two books to make sure that the Darkness was conquered but I won't look for more in the series.

NaNoReadMo

2006-11-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

I blame this idea on my friend Marci, who came up with it as an alternative to NaNoWriMo. I came up with a good selection of children's and YA books and am pleased to announce that I have finished the first day of November by reading my first book for the month.
Frindle by Andrew Clements. It's a wonderful middle-grade book, with humor, good grownups, great rewards, and as a bonus, excellent illustrations.
Check it out!

In progress (no pix)

2006-09-16T13:27:00.000-04:00

This is just a little text only entry to keep the blog updated. I am almost finished with my first red (and maroon and purple) scarf. I think the colors look great together. Just a couple more inches in red (and a few ends) and it's done. I did a lot of the end-weaving last night. Do you ever feel reluctant to finish a project? The scarf was such great mindless knitting, I will have to get/find some more red yarn for another one.

I'm also trying (again) Charlene Schurch's Class Sock to try and grasp the heel flap kind of heel. So far there's about an inch of ribbing (only 2 more to go, then the heel, it's a tiny sock.)

Lunch has arrived - tomato sandwiches on sourdough toast with Hellmann's mayo and a Tab - and the Yankees game is on so that's all for now. Can't wait to see Stephanie aka the Yarn Harlot at my local Barnes & Noble tonight!

9/11

2006-09-11T08:25:00.000-04:00

When September begins, I almost dread seeing one of these clear,
autumn, blue sky days because that's what 9/11 was like. And today,
on the anniversary, the weather is identical. It's the kind of day
that makes you glad to be alive - cool (it's about 60F right now),
crisp - not too humid - with a hint of fall in the air but still warm
from summer. And I hate it.

Third Finished Pair

2006-09-03T12:57:00.000-04:00

This is my third finished pair of socks - they're Grumperina's Jaywalker pattern, done in Regia Jubilee Sock, London colorway superwash wool/nylon. I finished them this spring, for my sister's birthday, then mislaid them. When they turned up again I thought I'd better send them off right away, but wanted a picture first. This is the pair where the toes turned out rather oddly (sorry!) and encouraged me to start making toe-up socks instead. Some people's Jaywalkers have ended up quite tight but these seem to be ok. Perhaps there's more stretch in this yarn. I knit both pairs sort of ongoing, one from the center pull end, the other from the outer end.

More knitting news - Mardi Gras Sock 1 is done! I ended up buying another skein of CLaudia's Purple Earth yarn to have as a spare. It's a different dye lot and though the colors are the same, the amount of each color is not (a lot more purple and dark blue in the new skein.) So - Sock 1 has Skein 1A for most of the foot and leg, and some of skein 1B to finish the leg. Sock 2, which has been started, has Skein 2 for the foot, I will switch to skein 1B probably for the heel and definitely for the leg.

And even more - the Lacy Prairie Shawl is almost done. I am knitting the top garter stitch border rows now. NO MORE PATTERN!!!

Finishing Some Projects

2006-08-19T17:30:00.000-04:00

My afternoon has been spent (while watching the Yankees/Red Sox game)in assembling all these barrettes. I embroider them on perforated plastic for a good firm base, then glue the backs on. I'm fussy about the backs, my favorites are labeled "Made in France" and I have to go into Manhattan to get them, usually at Metalliferous. I have a bag of 12 dozen which I thought would last for awhile - except that I discovered that they're all the wrong size, slightly bigger than I use (the ends are visible beyond the stitching which I don't like.) The size that works is 3 1/4" (80 mm) and my stash is of course 3 7/8 (97 mm).

However I had enough to finish off quite a few that had been waiting. This one is a new Anchor pearl cotton with metallics. Some of the other threads are Eterna silk twist and Caron Watercolours.

Subway Series Socks

2006-08-15T20:59:00.000-04:00

If there is Yankees yarn, can the Mets yarn be far behind? I'm winding the wool up (it arrived today from Dave) in preparation for knitting Mets socks for a friend's brother. Orange and blue isn't my favorite color combination but Dave made a thing of beauty out of it. I'm figuring another pair of toe-up socks with ribbing, very manly.

I'm knitting the Monthly Dishcloth KAL - this is my second project. You get 10 lines of pattern in email every day for 5-6 days. I thought I would have to wait (I wanted a solid and a variegated cotton yarn, and I only had variegated) but my yarn order from Smiley's Yarns arrived today. I can't believe the prices - so cheap! I got: 5 skeins of Bernat Handicrafter; 4 skeins of Lily Cotton Elite; 3 skeins of an interesting yarn called Filatura Lanorota Circus - it's a very soft blend of 85% cotton, 15% acrylic, very brightly variegated - I'm thinking washcloths, too soft for dishes; and SOCK YARN. Cervinia Calzetteria, 70% wool, 30% nylon, machine washable - 2 each in multi-blues, multi-turquoise, solid red and solid denimy heather - for $2.50 each. Five dollars for a pair of wool self-striping socks. I am having a hard time not going back to order more and more and more...

Not Just Knitting

2006-08-14T20:40:00.000-04:00

Which is why I called this blog "Brooklyncrafter" rather than "Brooklynknitter." One of my other crafting pastimes is counted cross stitch. I've been neglecting it for knitting but on a recent trip to Maryland I found a piece that called to me. Of course it's huge, it will be 26" wide by 20" high (just the design) when finished. It's from a new designer, Ink Circles, and this one is Garden Stars. With my friend Carol's help we swapped out the DMC for various overdyes (Needle Necessities, Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art Sampler Threads.) Here's as much as I've done:

The nice part about this piece is that it's composed of many distinct motifs so I can get the satisfaction of finishing one part at a time. After I looked closely at the chart I decided to go wild and use even more greens so I've added some Old Willow and Crescent Colors threads, as well as some Atalie threads that were just sitting around in a box. The fabric is one of Wichelt's new hand-dyes, Chai Tea Jobelan - it's a pale green with some pale brown mottling. I do have to use my portable light so it's not that easy to pick it up and stitch.

Road Trip

2006-08-14T20:22:00.000-04:00

We gathered for a road trip to Connecticut on a beautiful Saturday morning (who said "the only trouble with mornings is that they come so early?") Our stops included Sudberry House's annual (and final) garage sale where we loaded up on frames, boxes, and other wooden objects to display needlework. Then we proceeded to Yarns Down Under, a really fine (and well concealed) yarn store where sock yarn was found in abundance (I got some Schaefer Anne, some Regia Bamboo, and some Step with jojoba oil.) We ended up at a former LNS owner's place, where she generously offered us a sale on her inventory. The result - here's the trunk!

Update

2006-08-09T23:49:00.000-04:00

11:30 pm - Tonight I unknitted several rows to get back to 213 stitches (row 2 of the pattern.) Then I knitted a row and did row 3 of the pattern which should have been 215 stitches. It wasn't. It was 214 stitches. I went to the beginning of the row and counted off the pattern stitches - I'd missed a yarn over about halfway through the row. So I unknitted to that point, reknitted the row - 215 stitches. This is good, except it's where I started last night. Anyway I'm ready to do row 1, maybe tomorrow. The earrings really help in counting, I hook one on at every 50th stitch.

This shawl is showing me how much my concentration slips. In past rows I have missed yarn overs; I have dropped stitches; I have knitted 4 instead of 3 in the pattern. And yet at the time I felt like I was paying attention! Of course the longer the row gets, the easier it is for my mind to slip away for just a second also.

Frustration

2006-08-09T08:14:00.000-04:00

This is the Lacy Prairie Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. I have never had so much trouble knitting something! I think it's because it's lace - and every stitch matters. It's a really simple pattern, there are only 3 pattern rows (alternating with knit rows), and it's kicking my butt. I started with 215 stitches. It had been awhile, and I began knitting pattern row one (which, apart from the edges, is a Double decrease (slip 2, knit 1, pass 2 slipped sts over), k3; repeated to edge etc. I got to the edge and was one stitch short.

I unknitted the row (I'm getting very good at this and the yarn is quite heavy) and counted again - 215 stitches. Great. Then I realized that I was on the wrong side and I wasn't in the pattern row, I should have been just knitting. (I had to mark the right side because it's not very obvious.) So I knit a row. 215 sts. I did row 1 of the pattern - 214 sts, 1 short.

This has happened over and over with this shawl. It's such an easy pattern, I don't understand why it's being such a problem for me. It is emphasizing something that I don't like about lace knitting though - it's very fussy. You can't really add or subtract stitches as needed the way you can with stockinette or ribbing etc. I have 30 more pattern rows to go (up to 275 stitches) and I really want to finish this.

The yarn is Riata from Brooks Farm Yarns - silk, wool and mohair in the Water Lilies colorway.