Green Christmas Wish List

Courtesy of Etsy:


-Cute little easy-growing plant arrangements in hand-hewn ceramics

-Billards accessories

-Fantastic reclaimed paper products

-Vintage fabric pillows

Coming Soon... Knitted Christmas Gifts Unveiling

I haven't had much to share in the knitting department for the past few months because I've basically only been knitting Christmas gifts, and of course it would kind of ruin the surprise if I posted my project progress here. However, I'm leaving for Portland, Oregon to celebrate an early Christmas in December, and this means that I will soon be revealing the projects that have kept me busy all fall. Watch for it!

Lucky Cap FO

I knitted a quick cap yesterday while watching the National Dog Show and A Walk Through the Bronx (part of a great series of walking tours of the NYC boroughs) and waiting for the turkey to cook through.


Pattern: Lucky Cap, my own pattern


Yarn: Beaverslide fisherman weight wool in Tamarack


Needles: Size 10.5 Clover bamboo dpns


Reactions:

Pattern- I pretty much made this pattern up as I went along, casting on 66 stitches. I knit in the round, creating a k1, p1 ribbing for 2 inches, and then knitting a single horseshoe cable and the rest in reverse stockinette.

Yarn- I'm already a fan of Beaverslide's yarns and roving, but this Tamarack stuff really pleased me. When I ordered it online, I thought it was just a dark chocolate brown with some flecks of white, but when I was knitting with it, I realized that it also has bits and fibers of bright yellow, which looks great with the brown! It doesn't really show in these pictures (the sun was already on it's way out at 4:00 pm today), but just trust me- it's there. The fisherman weight yarn also has this great felted-type quality to it, so it's light-weight but chunky. I love that.

Thanksgiving

(Thanksgiving morning with cognac pumpkin cheesecake and coffee....)

I am so incredibly thankful this year for the health of my loved ones. My Pepere, who is a father to eleven children, husband to an amazingly loving woman, veteran paratrooper of World War II, successful self-made man and so much more, has fought hard for his life over the past month and has surprised us all with his amazing strength. He is RECOVERING! Thank you, blog friends, for your support.

Christmas Wish List

- Anything made by Ayumi Horie, so my birthday mug won't be lonely

- Several big bottles of Flying Fox, before Lush discontinues it (?!?!)

- Tromp l'oiel-ish booties, like these and these

- This fantastic bag

- One of these guys

- Fifi's favorites

- More prints from Ashely G

- Statement buttons

- Opaque legs

- A Feather Fascinator from KissCurl

- a Fatboy

- and lots of means to buy yarn (gift cards, people)

New Addiction

Oops, I returned to that trimmings store that is going out of business today and did some more damage....

FO: Pepere's Healing Scarf

Pattern: King Charles Brocade over 36 stitches, with a 5 stitch seed stitch border

Yarn: Hand dyed Superwash Merino Worsted

Needles: Size 8 Clover bamboo straights

This is my third try at dyeing my own yarn, and I like the results. I wanted this scarf to be extra-special for my grandpa, and somehow carry a little bit of me back home to give him strength to keep fighting. I didn't dye enough yarn the first time, and had to try replicating the first skein a few days later in order to finish the scarf. I wasn't too successful, and had to alternate knitting rows from each skein to help blend the two. But in the end, I like the color change and think it makes the scarf that much more unique. I hope that it will somehow convey to Pepere how much I've been thinking of him, and how much I love him.

light up

Thanks to Spray Glue, I want these Brooklyn-made and -inspired lamps for my place!

Sidewalking and other

It's no secret that I loooooove thrifting. But for some reason, I don't do it here in New York. I guess I assume all thrift stores here would be way too picked over to be worth the time. However, I have been known to pluck choice items off the sidewalk on Thursday morning walks with Cind. Thursday is the day the garbage trucks come and pick up various unwanted items, and I guess since few people have cars or other means of getting large items to thrift stores, they just throw them out! Earlier this week I spotted this amazing little chair just outside my door. Doesn't it look like it walked off the Amelie or Pushing Daisies set? Not only is the back in the shape of a heart, but the proportions of the chair are unusual. It's higher than an average chair, but the seat is not very deep. And it has super cute details, like a slight bow in the leg braces. It's genuinely old, too, which just makes it better! It needs a new covering. I love the green, though, so I think I'll choose a green velvet to replace the cracked wax cloth.



Last weekend was dedicated to dyeing yarn and knitting comfort scarves for my Pepere and Memere. I also made little apple tarts, using a muffin pan, ready bake pie crust, Grannie smith apples, oj and candied ginger. They were crispy and delish.



Earlier this week I stopped into one of the hundreds of trimming stores that line the streets near my office in midtown. This particular one claimed to be a bridal trim shop, and it was going out of business. I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find that it contained more than white sequins and silk roses. I treated myself to a huge stash of buttons (just a handful pictured here). Would you look at those little wooden ones in the first shot?? Don't they remind you of little acorns? Soo cute. I didn't do nearly enough damage and will be back next week for more. Oh, I also grabbed some feathers, grosgrain ribbon, Delft blue velvet rickrack, and some belt buckles. More on those another time....

Autumn layers

I love the way these sweaters are draped and gathered. What terrific new shapes! Images taken from ShopBop. Top to bottom: Karoo, Velvet and Ella Moss knits.

7 Truths

The Loopy Knitter, Jennifer, tagged me a while back to complete the 7 Truths meme. Jennifer, I'm sorry for the delay!


Rules -

-Link the person who tagged you.
-Tell seven truths about you either funny/different.
-Tag seven people at the end of your blog entry.
-Leave a message at their blog to tell them they’ve been tagged.

My truths:


1. I dabble in foodie-ism. I am not a food snob, but I hope to someday become one. I love trying new cuisine, and rarely come across something that I can't appreciate. Except watermelon flesh. I can't stand watermelon flesh, though I do like a pickled watermelon rind. These strong feelings against watermelon predate my foodie years, though. As I've mentioned on the blog before, I looooove pickles and all other foods preserved and/or fermented by ancient processes. I'm counting beer, wine and other alcohols among this group.


2. As a kid, I believed I would become a successful artist or fashion designer. Somewhere along the way, oh let's say mid- high school, I lost my confidence (anyone else experienced this phenomenon in high school?) I ended up studying Art History at a liberal arts school instead of fashion design at Parsons, as previously determined. While I loved Art History and excelled at it, I am now trying to make it up to myself for not supporting my dream to the fullest. Knitting is a part of this endeavor, but not the full picture. As things develop and I feel more comfortable with it, I hope to share more on this blog.


3. I have subway rage, which is similar to road rage. I can't stand train passengers who lose all sense of courtesy and common sense during commuting hours, and bulldoze their way into a car before allowing people to exit. Five days a week, I have to elbow my way through the same pushy woman at the West 4th station in order to make my stop.


4. When I was 2 years old, I got pneumonia and was rushed to the ER where I was strapped in a straight jacket-type garment in order to get a spinal tap. Now, whenever I have a bad cold, I can smell the phantom scent of that emergency room.



5. I claim to hate movies that make me jump, and yet, lots of my favorites do just that:
-Blood Simple
-Reservoir Dogs
-Paths of Glory
-Full Metal Jacket
-Shaun of the Dead
-Rear Window


6. I am a compulsive knuckle popper. I can pop 15 joints in my hands, as well as my wrists, back, neck, jaw (TMJ), knees, elbows, shoulders, sternum, hips, toes, ankles and this weird pseudo-joint inside my foot. I tried quiting once when I was in 4th grade, but it didn't go well.


7. I cannot scream to save my life. In college, I worked for a women's organization that helped prevent assaults on campus, and part of our self defense training was to practice screaming. I worked hard on it during a weekend retreat, and could hardly make a squeak. I keep hoping that if I ever come up against a situation when I need to scream, it will suddenly come to me. Luckily, I haven't encountered any such occasion yet. I'm good with the punching, though.


I tag:


Jasmine
Veronica
Karma
Olga
Shayna
Amanda
Pam

NYC Marathon

The New York City Marathon blew past our neighborhood (just one block over) on Sunday. There's something very touching about so many people from all over the world running together. There were seemingly just as many locals out cheering for the runners, which gave me a lot of pride for my beautiful neighborhood with so much culture and personality.