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.