Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Two New Books

I went to the dentist yesterday. On top of finding out that I have a broken tooth and need a crown and possibly ANOTHER root canal (the thing doesnt hurt at all!) But whenever I go see the beloved Dr. Rao, I always go to Barnes and Noble as his office is located next door.

They've moved the knitting books up to the third floor...right next to kiddie land...great.
Just want I want to be around when I'm looking at knitting books, screaming children and their frustrated parents who are unable to satisfy their children's every whim.

But, it's time to think about holiday knitting and as great as Ravelry is for inspiration, you still have to BUY the patterns.

So I picked up two new knitting books and here are my initial thoughts:

1)One Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant
The layout of this book sucks. Once you get past this, the content is pretty darn good.
All of the photos of the projects are located at the beginning of the book. They are ridiculously small. The book is organized by yarn weight; i.e. it starts with lace weight yarn projects and ends with novelty yarn projects. But after looking through it, there are at least 10 different things I would and could make from stash RIGHT NOW. So I suggest you get out those little Post It tape flags and mark the photos and the patterns to ease your mind. I have NO idea WHY a publisher would have set up a book this way...

2) The Knitters Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes; Clara puts out the great Knitter's Review. This book is lovely---full of lots of facts and tidbits you always wanted to know about fiber---and not just natural fibers, but man-made fibers (even acrylics YIKES!)!! And there are some lovely patterns, again that I could make right now. Here's my criticism on this, and perhaps it was just because I was reading the book in bed late last night, but Clara divides the books my number of ply's. So she will give a project for a single ply yarn, like Noro Kureyon for instance; and then say something like (to subtitute, use xxx number of yards of single ply yarn). Well short of playing with ply's at the LYS, I really can't tell when I walk in how many ply's a given yarn has. It would have been helpful to have an appendix of yarn's by ply to provide some guidance. And seriously, how many LYS owners want you coming in and unplying yarn for kicks???

So thanks to Dr Rao for providing me with a visit to B and N to update my knitting library...

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The countdown begins

The Phils released their tentative schedule for next year and dad and I did the math;

ONLY 159 DAYS UNTIL OPENING DAY!!!!

Photos


To find the Morehouse Store, look for the fork in the road, Literally.

BAAAAAA....

Frisbee Dog!

LLama's munching


Mom's Swag

My swag, being inspected by Luther

My new fancy ball winder!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Mega Stash Enhancement

Mom and I have returned tired, achey and poor from Rhinebeck. We actually visited a couple other stash enhancement establishments (SEES) along the way and marveled at the gorgeous, near peak fall colors from the Cape, thru the Berkshires, to the foothills of the Catskills.


A major storm was brewing Friday; we drove through changeable skies...one minute raining, the next sunny, the next overcast. We were glued to the Weather Channel Friday evening hoping things would clear up for Saturday...we lucked out...it was a gorgeous day. Many thanks to mom for driving...this enabled me to get lots of knitting done BOTH ways.


Along the wayI finished the first Loskins sock...






Dashboard Confessional...



Making Progress...

VOILA! C'est fini!

And here are some of the fall colors I was alluding to...











It was a busy couple of days...mom and I stopped at Wonderful Things in Great Barrington, MA. Mom has heard it was a "wonderful yarn shop." It was quite interesting...I've never seen some many DIFFERENT kinds of yarn in one shop. However, the store was strangely laid out, difficult to navigate; prices were posted in alpha order in each "room" but some rooms had entire pages of yarn prices missing. Also there were tons and tons of patterns, but with no kind of system other than by manufacturer. I asked for a simple glove pattern and got very little direction...the woman working said to me, "people aren't really making gloves anymore..." I purchased a couple of skeins of a Colinette Cadenza Yarn that is about the weight of Kersti...the shop was nice enough to throw in a free pattern for a baby Kimono. This yarn was $11 a ball...cheap for Colinette. I purchased one of my fav colorways, "Fire." I also bought some great rosewood needles. But honestly, I couldn't wait to get out of there...I won't return.


Next stop, The Sheep Shop aka Morehouse Merino's shop. I told mom, this shop is literally at the "fork in the road."

Sadly, blogger is having issues with photo uploads at this time; so I'll finish with the narrative and post some more photos from the weekend later.

Mom and I loved the Morehouse Store. Unlike last year when Wendy and I went AFTER spending the day at Rhinebeck WHEN IT WAS MOBBED, Mom and I received amazing customer service AND I was able to score some great yarn for a vest out of the sale bin...for $4 a hank (I needed 5 for the vest! What a steal!) It was nice not to have to fight our way around people to get a look at things. What I also love about Morehouse is their kits; they really give great inspiration and make it easy to shop and plan for holiday knitting. I scored some really cute scarf kits for the Wynne kids; the boys are getting dragons and Sammy is getting a purple catepillar.

We met my old friends Tige and Annemarie for dinner and honkered in for the night. I wish I could say I slept better, but the combo of mom's snoring and my excitement did not make for a restful night.

We headed to the Eveready Diner at 730am for breakfast *YUM*** and were at the Fairgrounds at 825am. We parked in the 4-h lot and were able to get in early. We made a b-line for The Fold and mom and I both purchased some STR. I also got the last gift for my secret pal. We also hit Brooks Farm and mom is now a Brooks convert! I'd been telling her about this yarn forever and I was so happy she fell in love with it.

My biggest purchase was a new ball winder. It is not your typical ball winder. It is amazing. Can't wait to share the photos...Mom got a new swift too, so changing those skeins into balls was NO BIGGY last night.

We spent the rest of our time in Rhinebeck meandering around the booths. The festival seemed very crowded by 11am. Lots of strollers (yuck!) and rude people...more crowded than last year. The other thing I noticed was just how big spinning is getting...there was SO MUCH for spinning, roving, wheels, carders. Also, weaving seems to be getting bigger too! We visited with some of the animals; sheep, angora goats, alpacas, llama's, a gorgeous border collie and a few bunnies. We also really enjoyed the frisbee dog demonstration and the guy juggling fire.

The deep fried pickles were there again-but my favorite food was the apple; dipped in caramel; dipped in chocolate!!!! Holy crap it was good. We also had cider that had been pressed just a day earlier. Although it was really warm out, there was still a taste of fall in the air.

On the way home, I continued knitting. I have a scarf I've been fooling around with with I'm calling "Variations on a Theme by Grumperina" or "A Jaywalker Scarf." I'm knitting it in STR colorway, Rooster Rock. It is gorgeous and I can't wait to share photos and the pattern. It's perfect for all of us that couldn't quite get the socks over our ankles...

We are back on Cape now and spent some time recup'ing in the hot tub. Like I said, more photos to follow once blogger repairs the photo uploader...



Monday, October 15, 2007

A Busy Weekend


On top of having ANOTHER sinus extravaganza, I had a busy weekend planned.

Friday, E and I went down to Baltimore for Stitches. I was restrained, but still managed to purchase some great stuff. I followed my number one rule of yarn festival purchasing: "I am only allowed to buy stuff I can't get at my LYS." I also followed rule number 2: "No livestock allowed in the car on the way home." Are you paying attention mom? These are important rules to adhere to this weekend when we go to Rhinebeck.


So here's my Stitches Swag:






Malabrigo Lace Weight; reminds me a bit of Morehouse Lace.
It was about $9.00 for 450+yards

Habu Bamboo in the color I've named "Metallic Eggplant."




Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Laci"

I forget the colorway but it is yummy isn't it?

It was $48 for 1700 +++ yards. It is going to be Kimono Shawl



Wasn't I restrained???? Well, Rhinebeck is in five days!

Saturday was Fall Knitorama. Sorry you were sick Robin and missed your farewell cake, but we ate it in your honor anyway! It was yummy!

Maggie poses with my finished "Variations on Sarah Blanch" Shawl


Allison models here nearly finished sassy Noro vest


Michelle is ready to shape her toes!


Lori is working on a great baby blanket from "Mac and Me" in Blue Sky Organic Cotton


Maggie snuggles with Aunt Money as she finishes a hat for "Afghans for Afghans."


Sunday I was treated to the Sixers pre-season basketball game with Jennifer, Alex and Timmy.


It was not pretty...



Tbone can touch his tongue to his nose

Alex has his first taste of Crab Fries

The boys had a "blue" evening; starting with blue water ice...

...popcorn up the nose

...and blue cotton candy

THE DAYS ARE JUST PACKED





Tuesday, October 09, 2007

SECRET PAL!!!!!

When I got home tonight, I noticed a "priority mail" box hidden behind one of the planters. I was SURE it was my Scooby Doo mask for Halloween...but no, IT WAS PACKAGE #2 from MY AWESOME SECRET PAL!







The yarn is like nothing I've seen...and sadly my camera really can't do it justice. But it is called "Harmony" from Jojoland and is a very subtly variagated green/blue/yellow and I think there is some pink and purple in it too. I can't wait to see the pattern in the next box. And I LOVE the Knitpickers yarn holder! I love my containers! (In fact I'm counting the days until the Container Store opens in Cherry Hill in Novemeber!)

Also many thanks for the Halloween themed items...MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!

And really, I am craving Reses SO BADLY tonight...I'm going to settle in for House with my shawl, a big glass of milk and my favorite candy treat! Thanks so much Secret Pal!

I have to go now, Maggie is eating scissors...again.

Needing my people...

I'm feeling a little withdrawn from the yarn world these days...which is strange given my new love of Ravelry. With the new job, I can't really get to knitting circle as I'm at Ronald McDonald House most Wednesday night. So, what could possibly remedy this malady?

STITCHES!!!

Yeah, its this weekend and yeah it's only an hour and a half away.

So I've decided to go, "just to look," at stuff, since I'm going to Rhinebeck next weekend.
And what a better excuse to "be with my people," as I explained to Ellen.

Plus, I get to eat crabs, crab cakes, crab soup etc.

Oh, speaking of knitting...I'm am 7 short rows (@300 + stitches per row) from finishing the Sarah Blanch variation shawl in koigu. It is yummy...I am hopeful to finish it tonight sometime between Beauty and the Geek and House.

Maude will from now on, be better known as "the bitch." The bitch screwed herself up again last week (it certainly wasn't me!) requiring another trip to Courtney. It's next up on the finish it list and then I'm starting the Honeybee Stole from KnitSpot. Unclear what yarn I'm going to do it in, but I love the pattern.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Well...

At the very least we got to:


Eat Crab Fries

Take Funny Photos of Heather and food

See the bell ring again...


Actually play in the NLDS

See the stands full of people dressed in red with rally towels


Sit in the sun in the 85 degree heat in OCTOBER

Remember Tug...


Look cute in our matching outfits and buy a really expensive NLDS program







Tuesday, October 02, 2007

OH MY GOD!


THE PHILLIES NOT ONLY MADE THE PLAYOFFS BUT WON THE EASTERN DIVISION!
Literally I've been in shock for two days. Sunday night, I was sure I had dreamt the entire thing and kept waking up and turning on Sports Center to make sure it was true!
Not only that, BUT I HAVE TICKETS TO THURSDAY'S GAME!
Last Friday, I got an email that I had been "choosen" (good I feel like a disciple or something), in the second chance lottery to buy NLDS tickets. I snatched those mothers up. So Ellen, Heather and I are going on Thursday! CRAP!
I promised photos from Light the Night. Dad and I made quick work of the walk. It was gorgeous as it always is (the event, not the weather).







Oh, and here are some photos from last Friday's Phils Game; which was totally amazing





CRAB FRIES GALORE!!!!


Heather becomes one with her Bulls BBQ Turkey Sandwich



GO PHILLIES!!!!