I finally have made a commitment towards my mom's Christmas present. Ben and I were at the LS (Local Starbucks?) or could I say UMS (Upper Montclair Starbucks, we have two in town) anyways, I saw the little Barista Bear magnet, and noticed his cute little scarf and hat. I kept walking on line with the bear and decided to buy it to become an inspiration for a holiday gift. After yesterday's visit to stix-n-stitches, I decided on the rio de la plata yarn to make the scarf and hat. You may notice the hat has some red, but I have a ton of red rio de la plata which is still waiting to become a very harlot poncho.
I caught up with Mary (who has been fighting a cold). Mary has been making felted bags for all her friends and has become the catalyst for the bean bag (I think that's its name). Sitting at her chair several people stopped by to show her their felted bags inspired by her felted bag. On my list of to do, the felted bubble bag. The pattern for this bag is in Pursenalities, which I don't have, so excuse my memory loss on the name of the purse.
I am jealous of Stacey. Her secret pal sent her Frida Kahlo stickers. I want Frida Kahlo stickers (stumps the foot of the once-mature adult acting like a nine year old). My blog is named after a short story involving Frida Kahlo way before Salma made the movie. I probably should design a site that reflects Frida's influence.
Laundry all done. Need to clean. Need to study.
The inspiration for my mom's Christmas present, is a barista bear from Starbucks.
This is the inspired from stix-n-stitches. Sunday even wound them up for me, she's so cool!
What attracts all the girls? Fiber from Latin America! Ninna and Ella checking out the scarf in the cast on process.
Recently, on knittyboard it was asked favorite knitting in a movie. I like the Jamie Lee Curtis attacking Jason in the first Halloween with knitting needles. I also liked on an episode of Stacked, Pamela Anderson knitting a 4 inch by 4 inch square and saying she was knitting a tube top and "was almost done". Although, after watching Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, my favorite scene is when the spaceship goes into hyperspeed and everyone is knitted. Ironically, it was the only scene I remember vividly from the movie. We have been having this problem lately with ALL movies, that the music is louder than the people talking. As much as I would love to blast the tv (and disrupt my neighbors), we have to keep our fingers on the remote control to quickly lower and raise the volume depending what is happening in the film.
I am making progress on Grandma Sparkes Christmas present. I let go of the wrap, and moved onto a scarf. It is being knit with a double moss stitch which almost creates a diamond pattern. It is cruising along quite nicely. The only thing is that I will need to add a crochet edging as the scarf needs it.
Other than that, I am off to stix-n-stitches. They are having Iris Schreier on Sunday, December 4, 2005, doing a book signing and teaching a Modular Knits workshop. I haven't taken a workshop since early October, so I think that is fine and I think it will be inspiration for me to make La Flaca (that's my mom, and Spanish for slim) a scarf. Iris is also a co-author of my favorite book of the month, Exquisite Little Knits. I am sure Sheila will have Iris' other book on hand as well Modular Knits. I haven't been to the store in over a week, and I miss Mary (a store regular).
Oh yeah, and laundry. For my husband who might be checking this website today, I will also be doing laundry.
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We finished a lot of the work last night, which worked out really well. Our first turkey was received with high remarks. We did a red chile glaze, and that was achieved with orange juice and chipotle basted on the turkey (the turkey was picture perfect and I forgot to take a damn photo). The pumpkin spice bread came out very well. The wine we used btw was purchased at Rhinebeck, how cool!
Anyways, I am beat and we are about to sit down to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The table setting for Thanksgiving. You can't see the menu that well, but it is on the table. The pumpkin candles never got burned.
My experiment with the Williams Sonoma pumpkin mold. It is made with pumpkin spice bread with honey glaze.
I actually made the hubby hang a new light with my dad on Thanksgiving. Sadly, you can see what a horrible heat ring was left by the other lamp. Tomorrow, painting.
So, I have finished my coconut almond bread, I have begun some deviled eggs, and I am now roasting the garlic for the herb garlic butter which will be used for the turkey and canapes. Thanksgiving is in the air. What I haven't started is the pumpkin spice bread due to the everpresent mistake of confusing if we have baking powder or baking soda.
I realized in my jubilation about adding photos inside the text, I haven't posted any pics of recent projects. I did breakdown and buy Exquisite Little Knits from Amazon and ended picking up Loop-D-Loop. Now, as much as I want to make the Chain Scarf (as seen on the cover), I can't imagine who would wear it. I did make some progress on my shawl, but had to put aside not only because I got bored but also because I needed to finish several projects that involved mail and a foreign country. I only have 2-3 more scarves to complete for the holiday and I can begin the shawl, possibly a blanket, and world peace (that was put on hold for the holidays as well). On another note, I love Duchess Yarn. It is oh-so yummy. I want to make scarves for myself in this yarn. The Feathery Lace stole should be done in two weeks, except I don't think I like knitting wraps. It is not done in the recommended weight yarn, but it was the pattern I was looking for, and I think it will be fine for Ms. Sparkes.
Oh, let me get back to Thanksgiving preparation....
Here is a picture of Izzy flirting with the ceramic dog on our balcony. It is an old picture yet it still is captivating.
This is the Feathery Lace Stole from Exquisite Little Knits. It is using the Adrienne Vittadini yarn I have saved for Ben's Grandma. It is progressing slowly, but it should be done in time.
My purchases from Amazon. Hmmm, they always get you because you need to spend $25, well I did.
I love this scarf! It is longways I believe 250 or so stitches in Duchess Yarn. I love this yarn! It is for my husband's soon to be bil. It is nice!
The is my update on the Blue Moon Fiber yarn I picked up from Rhinebeck. The shawl was postponed due to more critical holiday knitting. It is about three feet wide, but it needs another two to three feet.
I just happen to be roasting garlic as I type this entry. I finished the coconut almond bread for tomorrow, and started the deviled eggs, and roasting the garlic for the butter which will be used for the turkey and one of the appetizers.
Anyways, I noticed I was posting a lot of pics (excited to learn a new blogger skill) and I need to post some pics of recent knitting ongoings. Once I finish the Feathery Lace Stole, I have two more scarves to complete for Christmas, but, and this is a good but, I have time to finish because those folks live in the neighborhood and thus are not impacted by the US Postal Service, Royal Mail, and my ability to get to the post office.
This is our second year hosting Thanksgiving and this year, we are cooking a turkey. Last year, it was a roasted chicken, but this year it is a proper Turkey.
So far, we have a Butterball fresh turkey. I was debating calling their 1-800 helpline, but after a while of internet research, I have learned it is okay to brine this turkey. So Operation Brine will continue as planned.
Our menu reads as such:
- Canapes of Roast Beef with Caramelized Onions
- Coconut Almond Bread
- Arugula Salad of Cranberries and Bleu Cheese with Balsamic Vinegar
- Medley of Roasted Vegetables
- Whipped Chipotle Sweet Potatoes
- Red Chile Glazed Turkey
- Pumpkin Spice Bread with Honey Glaze
Cynthia had written to me about how Americans use the word chick for a woman, which is very true. I think bird has more double meanings than chick, unless I just never heard them. So, I promised I would look for this joke I had seen about Christmas in UK. Considering we have our turkey on Thanksgiving, I amended the joke to
Things You Can Say at Thanksgiving
1 I prefer breasts to legs.
2 Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist.
3 Smother the butter all over the breasts.
4 If I don't undo my trousers, I'll burst!
5 I've never seen a better spread!
6 I stuffed the bird.
7 Are you ready for seconds yet?
8 It's a little dry, do you still want to eat it?
9 Just wait your turn, you'll get some!
10 Don't play with your meat!
11 Stuff it up between the legs as far as it will go.
12 Do you think you'll be able to handle all these people at once?
13 I didn't expect everyone to come at the same time!
14 You still have a little bit on your chin.
15 How long will it take after you put it in?
16 You'll know it's ready when it pops up.
17 Just pull the end and wait for the bang.
18 That's the biggest bird I've ever had!
19 I'm so full, I've been gobbling nuts all morning.
20 Wow, I didn't think I could handle all that and still want more!
Ha! If you ever wanted to know English (yes, from England) slang, you can check out this site. Learn how fanny is not the location on the body that Americans know.
As my husband (from Coventry, but family lives now in Bruton) is a limey, we do entertain too many conversations on pronunciation to disputes on the letter "u" (colour vs color), to what words mean (bird is a woman in UK). I do have to say the phrases are the best part. For instance, "Sod that for a game of soldiers".
Ah- the English! Not only did they give us the Spice Girls, tea, and my hubby. And no, I still have no idea what the phrase above means.
I am a geek sheep. Very strange. Interesting, but strange...
Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna
Ok, so Woolgathered started a topic on knitting bags, and as I am an accessory obssessive individual (I owned the sheep tape measure before I knitted anything other than a scarf). I never understood why you would need a certain type of bag, probably because I have been a messenger bag/tote bag person majority of my life. But, the Lexie Barnes Lady B bag looks so cool. The pattern in hermosa (pictured here) is funky. It is shaped like a bowling bag, and the inside is gorgeous. I want, I want! Unfortunately, I wait...I wait....I wait....
Until then, I have Grandma Sparkes' Christmas present, or prezzie as my in-laws say, and I have to still make two more cat beds. Ah.
I just learned how to add photos inside the text. That is so cool! For my next trick, I will create world peace.
The new HP film is out! and we SAW IT! I have to admit I won't repeat this mistake. We bought tickets on Fandango for 10:30, and brought my mom's, a.k.a La Flaca, but we were not prepared for it to be sold out and sitting so close I thought I would hurl in the first five minutes. We were sandwiched. The guy behind me was not sitting comfortably in his seat due to his long legs and I didn't want to lean so far back (as it was already uncomfortable), but the girl in front of me had no problem leaping back in her seat into my knees and checking her voicemail.
Ok, I know, what about the movie? Ok. A few cool scenes. I loved the ballroom scene. I explained to English hubby we call that the prom (without the cool special effects). I loved that scene.
I was extremely happy to see another nationality introduced into the film, especially Eastern European. I have a weak spot for Eastern European accents. This film was more racially diverse, but still no Latinos. Oh well.
I loved the dragons. I wasn't too thrilled with a few parts but won't say what as you may not know. I do miss Wood the Scottish Quidditch player. Well, because he was Scottish, and I believe from Glasgow.
oh, I loved Neville. So cute!
My mom and I spent the day together. We had coffee, looked for a table and chandelier (found a chandelier), found a rug, visited two Homegoods, bought a basket to store my knitting projects next to the sofa (Homegoods). The basket was a steal at $15 and if the cats tear it apart, I have no emotional attachment. It does the job.
No knitting was accomplished today. All in all, a good day.
Yeah, so last night I met up with some old friends, Fiona and Anna. All three of us worked together in a company in downtown NY, and we enjoyed our meal at Thai Basil on 860 9th Ave. The dumplings were okay, but my penang shrimp curry was oh so yummy.
Fiona is writing my letter of recommendation to graduate school. I was so happy to see her.
Anna was my maid of honor and my closest friend. I haven't seen her in over two months. A little difficult to visit each other with her schedule and NY is very far away now that I don't work there anymore.
I picked up my husband's bil's Christmas present. My software went on the fritz so I will have more pictures later. I am knitting it longways and changing shades of brown in a garter stitch. This pattern is loosely based off a pattern in Scarf Style. I borrowed this book from a colleague and will probably breakdown and purchase. I attempted the Moonlight pattern, but that just fell apart. I could probably try one more time. Hmmm....
Anyways, SNB at stix-n-stitches tonight. yeah! I wasn't able to go last week due to the teacher's convention in Atlantic City. Don't ever stand between a teacher and a free gift (especially tote bags).
On the bright side (sorta), I posted the pictures of the cat beds I made. Now, the pictures are blurry due to the lighting of the room and just suckiness of the camera. I finally got the whole felting thing down. I don't think I was agitating the beds long enough. Now, I got it and now I want to make more beds for friends and the holidays. Hahahaha....Yes, I have jumped on the bandwagon of delusional holiday knitting. I have two weeks to finish Grandma Sparkes' wrap and two paragraphs ago I started discussing doing a lace pattern... holiday madness.
Guinness sleeping on a crocheted catnip ball. Moments you wished you had a better camera.
The cat beds up close and personal. Three pictured, fourth one was completing its felting drying.
This weekend Ben had both days off, so we we took a day trip to upstate New York. We first stopped off at Cornwall. This is a tiny tiny town, but we found this great place called Fiddlesticks and the food was really good. Yummy! Then, we drove right down the road to the Storm King Art Center. This is a huge property full of sculptures. Over a 100 sculptures. We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful foliage. It is crazy to see all these sculptures juxtaposed to the natural scenery of the mountains and trees. Then, we did what any good capitalist does, we went to the Woodbury Commons only five minutes away. I picked up some sneakers from Skechers, and some small items.
The next day was errands and more errands. I felted the four cat beds for the Bazaar. Much tinier than I expected so the next ones will av e to be made bigger.
I will post later my pictures of goodies I picked up from stix-n-stitches. I picked up more yarn for scarves. More on that later....
No point to the title, except it is the morning and I want coffee. If Ben is feeling better, I sense a road trip to upstate NY, and if he is not I am sensing me stealing the car and making my own road trip.
I posted some new pics of projects. I finished the Soho Scarf. I love this pattern. I noticed I like simple patterns involving changing directions, going from stockinette to reverse stockinette, or garter stitch from horizontal to vertical. The scarf didn't take a long time, and I think it is great for yarn that has shades of color. Sunday recommended this grey yarn at the store (I don't remember the name) and I am now thinking that would have looked stunning as well. Of course, I bought 7 skeins of Debbie Bliss yarn and this specific yarn I don't like. The debate is what to do with it (it was supposed to be scarves). I will post a picture and we have a vote on what to do with it.
I picked up the Tosca and I am making a mistake rib scarf for myself. This is a simple pattern that is a pattern on both sides which is perfect for a scarf. Deborah, at stix-n-stitches, taught a course on reverse stitches (patterns that are lovely on both sides) and I didn't take it but I will next offering. I will also take the sweater course by Sunday. No more courses as holidays are coming and we have a lot to do, when I saw we, I mean me. I have a lot of knitting to do. I did take the modular knitting class which I loved and I took the moebius which was fun. I have not done anything with these skills. Projects are sitting on my desk gathering dust.
Oh! I think I found a pattern for Grandma Sparkes. Ms. Sparkes, Ben's Grandma, is a "lady of lesiure" so she deserves something lovely. I have been talking about this robin egg blue yarn that Adrienne Vittadini that I found. I did find a great pattern from Exquisite Little Knits, but I need to get the book.
Alright, let me go see how hubby is doing. I force fed him two Thera-Flus last night and made him go to bed. I found out later he snuck the laptop into the room and was surfing the internet.
Never underestimate where you will fid your cats. Little Ms. Guinness scared me when I went to drop something off on top of this piece.
I was lazy moving this pic around, but this is another view of the Soho scarf. I love this pattern, it is so easy!
Lang Tosca in this strawberry-raspberry swirl yarn. It is 50% wool and acrylic, but softy. I am making a mistake rib scarf (for me-I think).
Well, check out the photo of big balls of yarn below. I stopped by stix-n-stitches the other day and found more balls yarn being placed on the shelves (well technically baskets, I think they fall off the shelves). I picked up two skeins of Berroco's Foliage in green and 450 Knitting Stitches for my reference library (in the making). I fell in love with a pattern I found in Exquisite Little Knits to use the Foliage. The scarf is for my fil. It is called the Soho Scarf and involved learning a turn and skp (slip, knit, pass). I was very proud I taught myself, but I do need to thank the Knitting Help website. I have to take a picture of the scarf, I am on the last 4 rows (don't get too excited there are 200 stitches in each row).
I should be done with the college application for graduate school shortly. The essay is written and making the rounds with friends. The letters of recommendation have been solicited and should be out the door in two weeks time. I am registered for the Miller Analogies exam, so I just need to review my vocabulary and a few practice exams.
I have the bazaar next week and trust me I am very excited. I have two more cat beds to be felted and I am done. I am actually attempting to start the holiday gifts now....oh holiday gifts....
What you may or may not see is that Ella has decided that my shopping bag is her new bed. I don't think it's the greatest choice.
Our current guest, Dawn Anna, who Ben would like to rename to Guinness (I just call her Puffy Tail).
The girls catching up on gossip in the bathroom (Ninna left, Ella on the right).
