Knititations

Scent of Summer

                         

Despite the abundance of Projects In Progress lounging around in my studio, I've had that gnawing "what-am-I-gonna-knit-next-need-a-new-project-for-summer" sensation lately, as the weather has hovered from grudgingly chilly to rip-off-yer-duds-and-unplug-the-nearest-fire-hydrant hot and humid. Overnight. Somehow it's not wool afghan-knitting weather.  StuMan and I don't always agree on A/C -- I don't love it so cold in the house that icicles drip from the chandelier but he would never turn it on at all all summer!  That's why when I found this covetously beautiful new Scent of Summer collection from Kim Hargreaves it set off all the bells and whistles of my central knitting nervous system.  Gotta knit!  Now!  Cotton. Pure, soft, white (remember snow?). Delicate lacy cardigans.  Mmmmmm.......touch me feel me..........Leave it to the Brits to evoke both the past and the future in one gorgous knitting project.

Another bird drama

Yesterday morning there was a very loud crow cawing in the midst of a lot of bird yelling and flapping out front.   We ran to the front yard to see what all the commotion was about.  A solitary black crow was swooping through the oak limbs, being dive bombed furiously from behind by a flock of Baltimore Orioles.  I assumed there were predator/nest issues at stake, and within a moment a baby bird fell from the tree and landed on our driveway.  Immediatly the females began swooping down desperately to check on it.  We gingerly removed it from the blacktop in the sun to a shady flowerbed using a garden trowel and a fern frond, so as not to touch it with our hands, for fear of leaving our scent and causing the parents to abandon it.  There were some disturbed feathers on the back of its neck and possible blood on its throad.  Maybe the bad ol' crow had gotten its beak on the baby before flying off.   And just maybe the mommie Oriole had pushed the poor thing out since it was injured.  This I don't know.  However, the nasty crow flew away and I've been keeping Pooie in the house since, because she, the little huntress, loves nothing more than a good meal of fresh baby bird.  This morning she did escape to the patio, and I was alerted to this by lots of noisy bird-scolding.   So I popped Pooie back in the house, but first managed to snap this shot of a Mama Oriole sitting on one of my fenceposts.  There must be 4-6 of them in the large oak out front.   The fate of Baby Oriole is uncertain.  I haven't seen it this morning.  The birds are still fussing out there, so maybe it lives on.  Nor have I spotted the classic sac-shaped nest of the Baltimore Oriole in the oak.

Big Chill in Paris

Just returned from 8 glorious days in Paris.  We made ze rendezvous with old  friends from college/post-college days back in Minnesota.  Stuart and I hadn't been to Paris since our honeymoon 27 years ago, and we celebrated our anniversary there. Despite the fact that Stuart tripped on the steps and broke his foot 10 days before our departure (thereby corroborating the factoid that most accidents occur at home), we trotted around those cobblestone streets until we fell, exhausted, into one sidewalk cafe after another.   He was a trooper with a huge moon-boot thing on his left foot, aided by a dashing carved wooden cane.  We all teased him that a beret and a Galoise would have completed the look!   Note the Man Purse which was procured for the express purpose of looking like less of an American Tourist.  We've outgrown the backpack at last.

We rented a lovely apartment in the 7th arrondisement.  It was directly across from the Basilica St. Clothilde, on the 5th floor with a weensy elevator barely large enough for both of us.  There is a lovely restaurant on the ground level, Le Basilic, which we came to think of as our own dining room.  This is our little terrace with the view onto the church.  Amazing! 

One day (it so happened it was the day of our anniversary) we finally decided to go into the church when we heard the organist warming up as we passed.  When we stepped inside the doors, the organist burst into Pachelbel's "Canon in D," which had been our wedding march!  Needless to say I burst into tears.  Quel coincidence! 

Paris disarmed me with its beauty.  I recall it being much noisier, more polluted, dirtier in general.  But then again that was before I lived in New York and in those days had a Minnesota baseline for commotion.  I was struck with the general tranquility of the Left Bank (never mind about the Right Bank, that's pretty much as I remember it).  A little dog doo to hop over is nothing compared to, say, last week in Park Slope where there was garbage piled up on the curbs as far as the eye could see, MacDonald's bags blowin' in the wind, and trucks double-parked everywhere with their exhaust fumes full throttle. 

I have to accept the fact that I'm just not a consistant blogger.  Seems like I used to be a lot more regular in my postings.  Maybe the addiction is getting under control!  Anyway, though I post less often lately I hope that my postings are more interesting!

The Decider (koo-koo-kachoo)

Oil Prices.  Darfur.  Illegal Immigrant Rights.  And oh, yes, Iraq.  The list goes on.  Who is it, again, who makes the calls on these issues?  Why, it's The Decider.  For an explanation of this picture, click the link:

I'm The Decider

Everything old is new

This link was sent by my friend Elaine, craftswoman extraordinare, who comes to knitting circle when she is able to.  It's a nifty concept, though we wondered it it was "kosher" to lift these old patterns reprint them thus. I think it's probably groovy, since they're not being sold as original patterns.  Check 'em out and knit your own vintage sweater-girl wardrobe! 

Vintage-Knitting-Patterns

Two points of light

I can't believe this is my first posting since January.  But I can explain, honest, it wasn't my fault.  You see, I was abducted by aliens and taken to their remote planet where I was held hostage until now.  While I was a captive in a land with no knitting, no internet, no blogging and no chocolate, I thought constantly about all those subjects.  Now that I'm back, I promise that I will be more consistent with these precious parts of life--some I will do more of, such as blogging and knitting, and some I can cut back on significantly, like the chocolate and the random searches for good prices on Marc Jacobs pumps. 

Actually, truth be told, I've right right here on Long Island doing a lot of stuff BUT blogging.  Since my last posting I've been to Costa Rica, to Denver, up in the Adirondacks, and furiously planning for my trip to Paris in less than a month.  I've been working, yes folks, actually working as in "for money" quite a lot of hours on a new project.  I also just wrapped up a big fund-raising event for our temple.  Which is sort of like being abducted and held captive by aliens, now that I think of it.

On to knitting. I was tickled pinkish to see this noted in the NY Times the other day: Is this nifty or what?  Knitting in the dark is something we all wish we could do (Imagine knitting in bed all night long without keeping the hubby awake from having the light on (of course there's that annoying clicking sound that is hard to eliminate, but maybe we can work on that).  Coming soon to:  laknitterieparisienne.com

It does remind me of my onetime roommate back in Mpls.  She was from a Ukranian family in Winnipeg, and a totally amazing knitter.  She would go into a movie theatre with her bag of yarn and come out with a big long scarf in some complex stitch.  She would also drink a cup of red wine vinegar with salt and pepper in it every day, which I thought was incredibly weird at the time.  It seems less weird now. 

More Marketing Hype of Yoga

As a knitter and a yogini, I admit that I'm both a bit uncomfortable and yet sort of thrilled at the confusion between the real precepts of yoga (The Yamas and Niyamas being the two main bases of the 8-Fold Path).  Of these, the Yama Aparagraha or "non-possessiveness" and the Niyama Tapas or "detachment" and the material world of yarn and all the related goodies that we love to collect for our craft create the greatest contradiction to contend with.  So I guess this new offering from Berroco leaves me the most confused and excited.  It's called YOGA. 

Berroco® Yoga™

It's a completely synthetic yarn, contains no natural fibers whatsoever.  No cotton, no silk, no wool.  Just pure artifice.  I have to find this and give it a feel to see if it would be possible to wear this next to skin.  The color card is sensationally great looking, and the names of the colors are pure marketing BS:  Swami, Shakti, Om, Ashram, etc. 

Somewhat Cowl

Yesterday I got an urgent message from my daughter that she wants to knit this for her next project.  I love it!  It's called the Somewhat Cowl from the site knit and tonic. The pattern can be downloaded from the site.  It's knit in Blue Sky Alpaca's "Alpaca Silk"sport weight yarn.

I wonder if I have time to rush out to the yarn shop before we leave for the frozen North Country?  I have tons to do--a beef bourguignon to prepare, challah to rise, and a whole lotta laundry to do.  There is always a monumental urge to get one more project ready to roll before we leave.  I must, I must!!!

Ah choo

In case you've run out of knitting time and ideas, you can have the UdderBalm people send you some of these adorable Nose Warmers just in time for your holiday giving.  They're hand knit to order and come in an assortment of colors.  You can render your loved one to look exactly like this picture!  My own beloved Stuart has asked about 3 questions in the 2 minutes since he's been reading this over my shoulder.  1.  How does it stay up?  2.  Can you eat with it on?  What in the world is Udder Balm?  Hey mister, if you've gotta ask...........

I will be keeping close count of the number of these nose warmers I see on people walking down the streets of Manhattan, where anything goes. 

not by leaps and bounds

Time to come clean, 'fess up that I'm slower than Mole-asses in January with this modular throw I'm making from the Berroco Foliage.  Since I have not much else in the cooker at the moment, I guess I'll do a progess update on this and hope it is motivating.  I'm loving it, though.  It's so satisfying to finish a module and move on to the next set of pick-up-stitches.  I moved onto circular needles recently, since there are never more than 31 stitches on the needles at a time, and you end up with just one as you finish a square.  I also really like this yarn.  It gives the feeling and the look of Noro Kureyon at 50% of the price.  It's also much softer than Kureyon.  So far I haven't had a single duplicate color series in all the squares, every single one is different!   Lookee!!