Parlor Hair Studio at 223 Glenridge Ave in Montclair will be hosting a benefit for Paws Animal Shelter of Montclair. The benefit will be an art exhibit, featuring the work of Mona Brody, Stephanie Cummings, Sherri Zuckerman, Kathryn Eddy, Robert Farrante, Lloyd Gold, Rebecca Mahon and Martine Kasmin -most of whom are from the Montclair vicinity.
The artists are donating between 50% and 100% of the proceeds from any work that is sold, directly tothe shelter.
The benefit has become somewhat of a community project, so many of the local businesses are contributing. All of the food willbe donated by local restaurants, including Mark and Eric's,Table 8, Dining Room,Whole Foods and Gina'sPanifico bakery. The wine will be donated by Romany Liquors and Costa wines, and The Printer'sPlace was kind enough to donate the postcards/invites to the benefit. There will be a series of raffles, with items and gift certificates from various local merchants, including a basket of goodies from the Montclair Pet and Feed Supply,Spice It Up, stix-n-stitches, Aveda hair care products, a gift certificate for Culture Couture, Intimate Engagements and many others. Aveda will be giving back and shoulder massages for $1/min. which will also be donated to the shelter!
The event will be held on Sunday, June 4th, from 12 to 6pm.
For further info, please call 973-746-1182, or email info@parlorhairstudio.com, or click here or here!
Knitter's note: This event is on a Sunday and geographically located between two of the four knitting stores open on Sundays, stix-n-stitches and modern yarn. A great excuse to come to Montclair, stock up on stash, taste some local cuisine and help a great cause! ps sns is donating a gift basket worth investigating.
Ninna chilling. Me, on the other hand, despite an extended weekend from work have acquired a cold. My job gave me two days in addition to the three day weekend, and my body responded by shutting down with a head cold. First came the sore throat, then the achiness, chills, and ultimately the non-functioning response to anything. I slept. I know I was sick because as DH says, "you're not knitting or watching tv" (although usually both go hand in hand). I was a vegetable. I actually took medication voluntarily (another sign that I am sick). I was popping decongestants and nyquil and orange juice. Friday, I accomplished nothing. Although, I did rally at 8pm to watch Halloween 4 & 5, now in my defense this did run until 3am, but I couldn't sleep. And I did cast on some Blue Heron yarn from my stash for a star mesh pattern from Interweave. When I awoke on Saturday, three cats had decided that my sleeping body on the sofa was the new sofa, so Churchill, Izzy and Puffy, all camped out on top of me.
Eventually, my body began to recover Saturday, as DH reports I began knitting yet again. Actually, he just remarked my sarcasm has returned so I must be feeling better. Sadly, two days out of commission has left me way behind in my school work (something I should be able to recoup).
Before I understood a lot of concepts within the knitting realm, I bought Blue Heron yarns. I bought one skein of 500 yards for a pattern that in no way could I have accomplished for my second project in knitting. It was a lace pattern from Oat Couture. It gets better... So, I frogged the thing three times. Anyways, I eventually hid the yarn in what soon would become my stash (I think there was a two chenille hanks from Lion Brand at the time). Well, after my lost to the head cold on Friday and actually sleeping in my bed, my fingers were twitching to knit when I had my rally that night. I pulled out the Blue Heron which I think is Raspberry or Strawberry or some kind of berry, and found a pattern through Googling Mesh Pattern on Interweave. One thing leads to another and here I am on Sunday with this progression. The pattern is a four row repeat and simple to memorize, let's see what becomes of her : will she head down the same road as the other projects with this yarn or will she come to exist as a garment of luxury or just a garment.
At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty. The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator" in it's natural eco-system, can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the fittest pack mentality", bred into the canines over the last several hundreds of years by natural selection. See the attached remarkable photograph courtesy of Nature Magazine . Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while the remainder of the pack prevents the beast from rolling.
Izzy was checking out the acquirements, or rather taking inventory of my new projects. The sale at stix-n-stitches was wonderful. Everything was on sale, including Noro (which I couldn't indulge in, wah), and Cascade, and notions. It was a knitter's dream and I was on a limited budget.
I did run into Julsey who we have exchanged emails but never met in person. I recognized her from Trek's sock bag. We had a blast. I met Karen a knitting co-worker and we spent an hour touching and dreaming about the yarns and future projects. So, now that Izzy has introduced my small stash purchase, let me elaborate.
BTW, Margaret text messaged me five minutes before the start of sale to pick up Lush for the button hat pattern which I emailed her the night before. Is there an acronym for stash related enabling?
Great Adirondack, hmmmm....You have to touch this yarn. It is like Malabrigo you think it is one thing and it isn't-it is something else. It is lovely, divine, luscious, and all words you would also associate with a Magnolia cupcake.
3 skeins of Great Adirondack in homespun cotton in the Nantucket colorway which will be a baby boy blanket. 5 skeins of a Lily Chin in pink for baby girl sweater in Debbie Bliss book (more on that latter). And two skeins of Ducchess yarn that will join the other Duchess yarn to be DH's scarf (another one he will compliment yet never wear).
The bag with all the possibilities. One baby boy blanket, one baby girl sweater, and on DH scarf in duchess.
Who knits? Wendy knits. That's right. You might have noticed this banner on Wendy's blog knitted by L-B. Truly amazing. Where to begin? Well, let's start with this afternoon when I showed up at stix-n-stitches and there was Wendy chilling at the back table where our Thursday night group gathers. I recognized her from the website and immediately was excited. Wendy was so gracious to mention the knit-a-thon we hosted for the shelter and I was grateful, not only that but the charitable work she does is amazing. So, I grabbed the book for my friend with initials AP (granted my friend reads this blog, I just don't want her DH who also reads this blog to buy her the book as it is her stocking stuffer for next Christmas), and I head to the back where this very nice lady was having a long conversation/interview with Wendy. I took some pictures of L-B's banner and mentioned to Wendy, "You can always tell who are the bloggers". Wendy signed the books and Margeret's book as well (who wasn't there because of family commitments). Well, a few moments latter, a crowd of excited knitters arrived. And let me tell you they were excited. Wendy was about to start a reading from her book, but one woman was so star struck -she didn't sit down in the chair. After a few minutes, she was able to sit and sit next to Wendy. Well, she did a great reading and there was tons of conversation at the table. It was as if we were sitting at the Thursday night group, knitters sitting around the table having friendly conversation and laughing. Then it somehow turned into a photo session. In fact, I took a picture of the people taking pictures of Wendy. Afterwards,Remy stopped by and spoke to Wendy, and all of us were knitting in the back. It was a great time.
The knitting paparazzi at sns. These extremely nice knitters came to meet Wendy and had a great time.
Remy is all star struck with Wendy. Remy was excited to meet her and receive her first autographed book by a "professional knitter".
All words to describe how I feel right now. I decided to get an extreme jump on my Master's and registered for four courses this summer. One class is a pre-session which means I have no life and that my brain is fried. The class is Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 8pm. Ok, I know you are thinking maybe not so bad, except now add on the two to three hours of reading that needs to get done, and throw on the working full time, and toss in that mixture a major proposal as a project (not even the final). This is my first week. Each night contained over 100 pages of dense reading. I explained to DH that he would need to pick up the slack for the next month and the kitties would adjust to this strange alteration in the schedule. The night before the class I downloaded the syllabus and read half the reading (which was a good thing because it was over a 125 pages of dense material) and every night I have gone to bed late. What is worse my neighbors have decided this is the week they play their stereo and entertain guests at 11pm each night (please remember I am in education so I am up at the crack of dawn). Agh! The second night of intense readings, her Puffiness sat on my readings in protest or in an attempt for attention. Anyways, she later acquiesced and is chilling on the seat assisting me with effective qualities of a group leader.
On the knitting front. Nothing. Wah! Other than my 45 minute excursion to the sns knitting circle on Thursday, I have knit or touched yarn. This is a horrible existence but brief. This is only temporary. I will be leaving my home tomorrow for the sns super sale. As it has been explained to me everything will be on sale. So, that is a great reason to have distance from the books. And then I head over in the afternoon to meet Wendy. This will be fun!
Ella was the first cat introduced in our home. Actually, DH recommended I look into adopting a cat before he moved to the US. On Easter 2004, for some reason I stopped by PAWS (I think I was bored that afternoon) and I met Ella. She was tiny and chirping up a storm in the cage. They called her Ditto. She had an unusual face and I thought she was incredibly friendly. Later I learned she was in heat and that's why she was friendly.
Ella was my first cat I owned, so when she was in heat and walking around crouching down and crying for some loving, I was definitely thrown for a loop. That's no longer going to happen (her being in heat- snip snip). One morning Ella woke me up by dropping off my hair clip in front of me on the bed. Ella is an extremely shy creature who sometimes can be found relaxing in the bathroom sink. Like all our cats she enjoys the occasional nap in an Amazon or Staples box, and she frequently is cuddling with Churchill.
In the picture above Ella has chosen that the paper bag from a local store is a better bed than the Lorna's Laces Kitty pi bed. Oh yes, she did chose the paper bag (don't worry Ninna has taken over that bed). Ella still chirps and that's why is named after Ella Fitzgerald for her skat singing capability (notice a musician theme, particularly a Jazz theme?). Oh yeah and we enjoy picking her up because she makes noises like a monkey (she doesn't enjoy being picked up, but the noises are so cute).
All done. Well, aside from a few ends that need to be weaved in. It is incredibly huge. I do not jest. The clap starts from what you see and is lying on the chair. I seriously made it too big. And Cyn, I did six additional repeats on the straight rows. A few too many. I can mummify myself in the clap. I think it reaches from toes and over my head and possibly to my toes again. If that makes no sense, no worries, it is super long. But, after making a few shawls too small, I appreciate this fitting.
Now, I received the official word from stix-n-stitches which I am pasting here from their email list-
Saving the Best for Last: Spring Sale
Saturday - May 20th from 9AM- 12PM ONLY
We need to make room for new inventory.
So anyone stopping by to meet Wendy for her book signing, 2-4 pm that same day, you can stop by a little earlier for a sale! I have my eyes on a few yarns, fingers crossed, they are on sale.
There is so much to enjoy when it comes to ice cream and sorbet. It is my favorite. So, I ended up at the foodstore and thought I would check out some ice cream for the afternoon. What do I see? Vermonty Python! It is not only hysterically funny, it is also incredibly yummy. It is coffee liquer ice cream with chocolate crumbs and fudge cows. The fudge cows is awesome. I threw in the picture their Neapolitan Dynamite. I liked the film but I am not a huge fan of cherries in ice cream, but that's why DH loves the ice cream (because I won't touch it!).
Nautie is one of the new patterns in Knitty's spring publication. Lately, I have been challenging myself. So, I saw this pattern and thought to myself that would be a great kitty catnip toy. I stuff it with some catnip, it is small, and it has tentacles which is lots of string like things for them to play. Anyways, after a few hours of playing with the pattern (which looks nothing like the photos) and I look up at DH and say, "Why doesn't mine ever look like the photo?" Well, it was a first try. I am going to try this one again. But, I was able to play with another Knitty design which I reveal later in the week.
Over the holidays, I made a purchase from Piddleloop store. It included some little pouches and the Scrabble stitch markers for a friend. Well, the girls at Piddleloop were so kind to include some samples of cards and buttons from their store. My friend Katie for Christmas gave me some adorable cards that had a knitted poncho on them. And I still have not used any of the cards. But, I thought I could also share with you a sample of one of the cards Lion Brand has put together. They took some iconic graphics and altered them slightly. So, go check them out as you can download pdfs of these cards for your personal use.
That's right people. Wendy Johnson, of Wendy Knits, will be visiting Montclair for a book signing. I have already purchased my book this past week and took advantage of not having a class and did some readings. I wasn't even aware of all the work she did for the mouse a-long where knitters knit catnip mice to be donated for an animal shelter. I was aware of her kitty-pi a-long where people donated felted cat beds which were given to Petfinder to be given for senior cats who were adopted. Anyways, Wendy is here on May 20th. I am very happy. My friend will come to NJ for the signing and I am currently working on a small project. More on that later.
Oh, so here are the details. Wendy will be at sns on May 20th, 2006, from 2-4pm. This is the day before the PAWS for a Bite which means I am having one crazy weekend. Also, on the sns front-they are donating gift baskets to Art for PAWS. Art for PAWS is another fundraiser on Sunday, June 4, 2006, which is the auctioning of artwork and baskets where all the money will be donated to the shelter. I will post more details on this event. Bookmark your calendars as there will be Aveda massagers giving massages for donations. AND, did I mention lots of yummy gift baskets from stix-n-stitches, Spice it up, Semplice, all sorts of good stuff.
I just returned from the sns Thursday night knitting. While I did finish a quick potato chip scarf tonight. I also picked up some gossip that will make everyone drool. sns will now carry the full and complete Debbie Bliss line, and on June 17th they will have a special guest to introduce the line. Check back in and I will release more info, but trust me, you will want to hear more on this one...
A small band of us has organized restaurant fundraisers for PAWS over the past year. One of our more successful PAWS for a Bite events was last May in Montclair at Raymond's. We decided this year to coordinate several restaurants to participate in PFB and we have successfully had four restaurants commit to the event, which are: Raymond's, Church Street Cafe, Veggie Heaven, and Egan & Sons. Consider yourself invited to this event as well as friends on Sunday, May 21st, from 5:30 to whenever the restaurant closes (usually 9pm). The restaurants are located at :
Raymond's
28 Church St.
Montclair
Church Street Cafe
12 Church St.
Montclair
Egan & Sons
118 Walnut St.
Montclair
Veggie Heaven
631 Valley Rd.
BTW, if you are interested in coming, stix-n-stitches and Modern Yarn are open on Sundays until 5pm, so you can take a yarn crawl in the area and then head over. Now, here's the 411:
Egans is Irish food and a beautiful pub so you don't bring your own bottle, while all the others are BYOB. Church St. is American, Raymond's is American (I believe fused with some French influences) and Veggie Heaven is yummy vegetarian.
Churchill was adopted from PAWS a few months after our first adoption, actually, though Churchill was adopted by both DH and I. He was in the loose cat room but was so shy he would hide in one of the cat beds. A volunteer was in the room and we went to the shelter to look for a ginger cat, as DH always wanted a ginger cat (that's how Stinky arrived). Anyways, the volunteer called him out "Bob" she called and the sweetest cat popped his head out and we were introduced. We liked him but DH wanted a ginger cat. So, we went to the foodstore and all we talked about was Bob. Next thing we know we were adopting him, but we couldn't pick him up that night. We wanted to set up the home for him. So, the next morning we picked him up and was introduced to Kristina at the same time. She told us that Bob loves shrimp. We decided on the name Churchill after Winston Churchill (DH is English so naturally we picked something English). For two hours he hid behind the desk until he saw Ella. Once, he saw Ella he came running out and was happy, friendly, and sweet. Ella was not, but Churchill took to her. Now, two years later Ella and Churchill are companions in the home. A lot of times you will see them walking into a room together, sleeping next to each other, and cleaning each other.
Churchill is a pretty boy, and so sweet. I always loved grey and white cats. He doesn't meow, rather he chirps, like a bird. So, everyday at 5pm, he runs around the home chirping as he truly believes it is time to be fed. He also likes to sleep on the bed with us, but see Churchill likes to sleep on top of me, and here might be TMI, he likes to curl up on my butt. Most times, the twelve pounds will bother me so I have slide him off, but he has learned my strategy and now has managed to balance my attempts to shuffle him off of me.
Ella's tip for the day: Get your pets the pet grass at Petco or at a Farmer's Market. It is good for our digestion, stomaches, and stops some of the nasty vomiting that some of us suffer from. My mom picks this up and puts it on a plate by our food bowl where we can munch on it. She used to put it in the window until she realized the sunlight sped up the life of the petgrass. Every other day she runs water over it just to keep it fresh. You would be amazed, she will even take some of the grass and everyone of us, except Puffy, will eat it from her hand. She took this picture after I woke up from my afternoon nap and was enjoying a few bites of the greeny goodness. Mom says to ignore the mess behind me, she's a little paranoid with the cleaning and was just happy to take a picture of me eating the grass (not smoking it).
I probably didn't post about DH throwing his back out and having to see the chiropractor, but he did. One of the major problems is that our dining chairs are not the most comfortable and certainly are not good for one's back. We invested in some chair from Staples on sale with back support and now DH is happy. We also bought one of those pillows for the beds, so I will let you know if that is maintained (I am sure the pillow is great, but most people tell me they give up on using it after a few days). Obviously, as a new piece of furniture one of the cats must take ownership of the chair. As you can see here, Puffy has claimed the chair as part of her area. Printer in the background is a b-day gift from my folks. Based on my the reading material needed for my coursework and the amount of paper DH prints everyday for his job, they obtained a laser printer (of course with good reviews from Consumer Reports). (Ignore the mess, ignore the mess, ignore the mess, the vacuum cleaner broke during the cleaning process and we never put everything back, ignore the mess, you are getting sleepy and forgetting the mess....)
That would be a great title when I finish the clapotis. Margaret made a comment asking for status on the clap (the project that is). And here she is! The pattern calls for around 600 yards (of Lorna's Laces which I opted for something different in worsted weight) I decided I wanted it a little longer. I am a little chubby (that's how I describe myself, yes) and I want the clap to fit around me like a wrap. I want to toss over my shoulder, or is the word fling around my shoulders? So, I bought the 600 yards and added 300 more on to the project. If I was following the actual pattern, Margaret would be right, I would be done. I am about to add the additional yarn for the project. It will probably be done next week.
I cannot emphasize this is one of those projects that when you look at the pattern is overwhelming, but in all honesty, when you actually work on it,- it is not. The buddha agrees with me though that it should be longer.
