Friday, November 10, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
mid week update
I promised I'd post pictures of my newest Sundara yarn, Blackberry, so here are a few from my *photoshoot* the other night:
I apologize for such a quick post, but things at work are crazy this week! I'm trying to lie low in preparation for a very long day tomorrow, which will start at 6:00 am. On the bright side, though, I get to go to a big private event at MoMA for work tomorrow night! Very excited about it. There should be some interesting names making an appearance. I'll let you know if I meet anyone famous.
Over the weekend I had my hair "trimmed". I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I think I like it. See, I'm growing it out, but wanted to have a style in the mean time. I have lots of hair, but it's very fine. My new stylist cut out about 2/3 of my hair by thinning it out (she didn't use those horrible scissors with the comb-thing on one blade). The result is that my hair appears to be the same length as before, but it now behaves much more wispy and voluminous. Victory! Pictures of it to come.
I FINALLY motivated myself to finish my Mason Dixon Ball Band wash cloth. I did knit several extra rows on this one to make it more substantial. Someone very important to me is expecting a little one in a while, and I thought maaaaybe she'd like to toss it over her shoulder as a fashionable 'pit-up towel. Here's a pic:
Finally, I treated myself to a little bauble last week by the Etsy artist/seller Sudlow. It's a little pea pod pendant made of silver and pearls on a simple silver chain! So cute. Here's a bad picture or two of it:
Over the weekend I had my hair "trimmed". I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I think I like it. See, I'm growing it out, but wanted to have a style in the mean time. I have lots of hair, but it's very fine. My new stylist cut out about 2/3 of my hair by thinning it out (she didn't use those horrible scissors with the comb-thing on one blade). The result is that my hair appears to be the same length as before, but it now behaves much more wispy and voluminous. Victory! Pictures of it to come.
I FINALLY motivated myself to finish my Mason Dixon Ball Band wash cloth. I did knit several extra rows on this one to make it more substantial. Someone very important to me is expecting a little one in a while, and I thought maaaaybe she'd like to toss it over her shoulder as a fashionable 'pit-up towel. Here's a pic:
Finally, I treated myself to a little bauble last week by the Etsy artist/seller Sudlow. It's a little pea pod pendant made of silver and pearls on a simple silver chain! So cute. Here's a bad picture or two of it:
Thursday, August 31, 2006
I'm a Lush
Some of you know this about me: I love LUSH. I'm a fan of just about every handmade product they sell. When I lived in the northwest, I visited the 23rd St. location in Portland, OR whenever I was in town to visit my family. Well, there's a Lush not far from my work here in NYC. Last week I almost bought out the store, buying one of each of their new products. I'm addicted. I found an excuse to go back today- buy a shampoo/conditioner solid for camping. And guess what? I won something! They drew my name out of a basket while I was standing in line to pay, and I won the "Desperate Housewives" gift box of Smitten hand cream and 2 Timing Tart bath bomb. I've never tried either before. Whoo-hoo! They also gave me a little bar of Olive Bar soap, perfect size to take camping.
On a far less materialistic note, today is my Memere and Pepere's 60th anniversary!!!! Happy anniversary, Mem & Pep. I love you both.
And now, because once again I don't have time to write a proper post, I'll just throw in some pictures of New York from last week when our visitor and birthday girl was in town:
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
visiting new LYSs and expanding the knitting library
Over the weekend, Jeremy and I trekked down to Prince Street for some cold beers in a dark pub, some overly-priced denim trying-on, and some Purl SoHoing. It was my first time to the little storefront, and wow, is it small! About the size of my bedroom, but packed with goodness. I was determined to use up a gift certificate my lovely old knitting coworkers had given to me as a going away present, but I went in Purl in the wrong frame of mind.
Jeremy's requested a special item for fall- a chunky knitted scarf in an over saturated cadmium. That's my description of the shade he's after, at least. He's very precise when it comes to color and the clothing he'll allow near his body. In trying to understand this very exact shade he has in mind, I've trained my eye to fixate on any and all varieties of yellow that pass me. When I went to Purl, it was all I could think about. Upon entering the store, I immediately snapped up a swatch of Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in Gold. I showed it to Jeremy, and low and behold, he was impressed! BUT, it was just a tiiiiiiiiny bit too ochre. Argh! So close. After that, I just couldn't focus on yarn, although The Fibre Company's Road to China offerings did hold my attention for a few seconds. I thought I deserved a treat though, and ended up getting myself a few distrations pictured below.
Today after work I decided I'd walk home rather than take the subway. It's slightly cooler today, and there's a nice breeze and big fluffy clouds in the air. On the way home I realized I was just two blocks from School Products, which I've read about on many a New York knit blog. So I stopped in. This place is not easy to just casually fall into. It's in a non-descript building in the middle of the garment district, on the third floor. You have to show your ID to the security guy in the lobby and get buzzed into the shop. Oh, and from the outside, the only sign I saw indicating a LYS was a yellow sign in an upper window reading "Yarn (212) 679-3516". But boy, do they have some luscious stuff. Worsted Cashmere for $4.50/oz, dudes. But AGAIN, I found myself out of sorts, and left only with a book (though it's a book I've been looking forward to owning and reading for some time now).
Hmm, what else to report? The new job is going just fine for now. I work with a bunch of really terrific women, have a sweet view that includes the Empire State building, the Flatiron Building, and many a rooftop garden, and am finding my work interesting and challenging.
Oh, the day before my first day on the job I knitted up a quick SnB Kitty/Devil hat, only I left off the ears/horns. I used two different worsted weight yarns- Cinnabar Handpainted yarns for the stockinette and Mulled Wine Manos for the seed stitch parts. The two colorways are very complimentary to each other. I'm not posting a picture, though, since I'm planning to gift this to someone who may read this blog now and again.
Jeremy's requested a special item for fall- a chunky knitted scarf in an over saturated cadmium. That's my description of the shade he's after, at least. He's very precise when it comes to color and the clothing he'll allow near his body. In trying to understand this very exact shade he has in mind, I've trained my eye to fixate on any and all varieties of yellow that pass me. When I went to Purl, it was all I could think about. Upon entering the store, I immediately snapped up a swatch of Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in Gold. I showed it to Jeremy, and low and behold, he was impressed! BUT, it was just a tiiiiiiiiny bit too ochre. Argh! So close. After that, I just couldn't focus on yarn, although The Fibre Company's Road to China offerings did hold my attention for a few seconds. I thought I deserved a treat though, and ended up getting myself a few distrations pictured below.
Today after work I decided I'd walk home rather than take the subway. It's slightly cooler today, and there's a nice breeze and big fluffy clouds in the air. On the way home I realized I was just two blocks from School Products, which I've read about on many a New York knit blog. So I stopped in. This place is not easy to just casually fall into. It's in a non-descript building in the middle of the garment district, on the third floor. You have to show your ID to the security guy in the lobby and get buzzed into the shop. Oh, and from the outside, the only sign I saw indicating a LYS was a yellow sign in an upper window reading "Yarn (212) 679-3516". But boy, do they have some luscious stuff. Worsted Cashmere for $4.50/oz, dudes. But AGAIN, I found myself out of sorts, and left only with a book (though it's a book I've been looking forward to owning and reading for some time now).
Hmm, what else to report? The new job is going just fine for now. I work with a bunch of really terrific women, have a sweet view that includes the Empire State building, the Flatiron Building, and many a rooftop garden, and am finding my work interesting and challenging.
Oh, the day before my first day on the job I knitted up a quick SnB Kitty/Devil hat, only I left off the ears/horns. I used two different worsted weight yarns- Cinnabar Handpainted yarns for the stockinette and Mulled Wine Manos for the seed stitch parts. The two colorways are very complimentary to each other. I'm not posting a picture, though, since I'm planning to gift this to someone who may read this blog now and again.
Friday, July 28, 2006
New York companions
I've learned the Cingular doesn't have the best reputation on Manhattan island. Calls are dropped left and right. It was so frustrating for me, waiting to hear back from my prospective employers and not knowing if my phone would pick up the call. So I switched to T Mobile, which is much better. I even get reception in my apartment! Hurrah. And I love my new phone, too. I feel like such a New Yorker. It's sleek and high tech and most importantly, wearing all black.I picked up the book Gotham on my last visit here, and in recent weeks I've been totally absorbed in the history of New York. It's something that I didn't learn much about in school, since our studies focused on northwest history. I'm finding it fascinating. I've never lived in a place this old. I love walking around the neighborhood and discovering a new historic plaque.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Celebration
I think it's safe to reveal the reason for my happy mood now:
I GOT A JOB!
Hurray! I'm so relieved and excited. I'm especially happy because the job search was relatively painless, and I really was trying to prepare myself for the worst when I moved here. For all I knew, I would be jobless for the next 6 months. Anyway, the job I'll be starting is just my speed- similar to what I was doing before, but different enough that it'll be a terrific learning experience with a great organization. When I got the promising news earlier this week, Jeremy surprized me with a celebration chocolate cheesecake. Mmm. Now that the news is official, panna cotta is sounding delicious...!
I wanted this cap to be larger than the one pictured in SnB, so I added another cable repeat. This makes it not quite "rasta", but more "street urchin", and I'm happy with it! I also ditched the idea of stiffening the bill with plastic mesh, so my bill is nice and squishy, which adds to its attitude, I think. The cap is really stretchy, so even though it looks like it accomodates my knee nicely, it can fit on my head with plenty of room, too. I suspect this cap will get a lot of wear when fall comes around.
I GOT A JOB!
Hurray! I'm so relieved and excited. I'm especially happy because the job search was relatively painless, and I really was trying to prepare myself for the worst when I moved here. For all I knew, I would be jobless for the next 6 months. Anyway, the job I'll be starting is just my speed- similar to what I was doing before, but different enough that it'll be a terrific learning experience with a great organization. When I got the promising news earlier this week, Jeremy surprized me with a celebration chocolate cheesecake. Mmm. Now that the news is official, panna cotta is sounding delicious...!
In knitting news, I was feeling the need for a satisfying and fast project. I stayed quiet about it here, but in the past two weeks I've been trying to finish the Clap and also my old Hot Lava project, but I ran out of yarn for both VERY close to the end. Arg. The feeling of defeat was too much, so I just zipped my lips...er, fingers...and didn't mention it. (Wow, I'm really coming clean in this post!) Both will be finished at some point (though due to the rare nature of my Clap yarn, I will probably have to start the whole thing over, making it slightly narrower than the original pattern), but for now I've hid them from view.
Anyway, I felt I NEEDED to finish SOMETHING, so I used a skein about 1/20 of a second to knit myself a "Headline News" Cabled Newsboy Cap from Stitch n Bitch Nation. I used Handpaintedyarn in Rocha bc, which is lovely, though as I've mentioned before, it smells a bit like vinegar before a good rinsing, and my batch didn't have very much navy blue in it. It was much more orange, ochre and brown. Still lovely. Here are some pics of my newsboy cap as modeled by my knee. (Please ignore the partially unpacked state of the room my knee is in.)
I wanted this cap to be larger than the one pictured in SnB, so I added another cable repeat. This makes it not quite "rasta", but more "street urchin", and I'm happy with it! I also ditched the idea of stiffening the bill with plastic mesh, so my bill is nice and squishy, which adds to its attitude, I think. The cap is really stretchy, so even though it looks like it accomodates my knee nicely, it can fit on my head with plenty of room, too. I suspect this cap will get a lot of wear when fall comes around.
Monday, July 24, 2006
glad shoes
I'm so happy today, folks. I'm not quite ready to reveal the reason for my happiness, but let me just tell you, I'm so happy I went out and treated myself to a pair of comfy gladiator sandals. Okay, so the fact that I bought shoes today doesn't really prove anything. Since I got here on July 3, my shoe collection has grown significantly. But they were mostly all good deals!
In knitting news, the Fall issue of Vogue is previewable online right now! I love so much of it, especially the gray v-neck with braided neckline, the croppped cardi in knitted check, and well, ALL of the socks.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Give a Little Bit
In my last job, I was fortunate to have worked with a group of experts who've dedicated their careers to helping solve some the world's biggest health challenges. When I decided to move to New York I knew I'd be leaving behind an amazing opportunity to continue learning from these people. And now that I'm here, I do feel a melancholy separation from those issues that were becoming a part of my life in Seattle. I've comforted myself by knitting a ton, another big part of my life from Seattle.
The report State of the World's Mothers 2006 was put out by Save the Children and showed that 4 million newborns die within the first month of life, mostly in developing countries and mostly from complications that could be avoided with lost-cost solutions such as training birth attendants, immunizations, and education of mothers.
I've just learned of a way that I can both knit and get involved again in the issue of newborn, child and maternal health.
Caps to the Capital is a project devised by Save the Children and Warm Up America! Foundation to show that Americans care about newborn, child and maternal survival in developing countries, and want more the of the U.S. budget to go toward helping this high-risk demographic. You can get involved in several different ways, but the main part of the project is knitting or crocheting a baby cap and writing a note to the President showing you care, and then sending it to Save the Children by January 2, 2007. I'm so excited to get started! If you're interested too, you can download the Knitters and Crocheters for Newborns: Caps to the Capital Action Kit from Save the Children's website.
The report State of the World's Mothers 2006 was put out by Save the Children and showed that 4 million newborns die within the first month of life, mostly in developing countries and mostly from complications that could be avoided with lost-cost solutions such as training birth attendants, immunizations, and education of mothers.
I've just learned of a way that I can both knit and get involved again in the issue of newborn, child and maternal health.
Caps to the Capital is a project devised by Save the Children and Warm Up America! Foundation to show that Americans care about newborn, child and maternal survival in developing countries, and want more the of the U.S. budget to go toward helping this high-risk demographic. You can get involved in several different ways, but the main part of the project is knitting or crocheting a baby cap and writing a note to the President showing you care, and then sending it to Save the Children by January 2, 2007. I'm so excited to get started! If you're interested too, you can download the Knitters and Crocheters for Newborns: Caps to the Capital Action Kit from Save the Children's website.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
I'm not in Seattle Anymore
Okay, so I'm still the same crappy photographer, but dudes, it's coming DOWN here! And it's still hot, and the lightning and thunder are CLOSE. This is not the northwest rain I grew up on.
Clapotis of Thunder
My Clapotis is finally growing! It is so satisfying to drop stitches in the 3rd section of the pattern, let me tell you. Sundara's yarn is so beautiful. I think this is the perfect pattern to show off the luminocity and variation in the strands. I haven't stepped outside yet, but it sure is dreary out there. Both overcast and humid. It looks like the sky could open up at any moment and start dumping rain and steam on us. There are continual thunder rumblings outside, and tomorrow's forecast is not looking better.
I've walked so much in the past week, I've done some sort of damage to my left hip! It feels like a strain right in the joint. Since I have nothing on my agenda for the day (I'm waiting with fingers crossed on two different positions I interviewed for yesterday and Monday), I'm taking advantage of the free time to knit and pretend I'm on vacation instead of job hunting. Oh, and I'll need to unpack the rest of my boxes sometime today too...but for now let's ignore that.
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