A First Time....

...some good, some questionable, some weird.

Many, many thanks to my dear friend Anj, who invited me to drive up to Rhinebeck with her and stay with her delightful Aunt Judy and Uncle Wynn at Herron Farm. I got to pet the llamas, feed the alpacas, check out the chickens and threaten to make soup from the rooster who woke me up every half hour both mornings. Who knew that roosters come with a doze function?

The weather report for the weekend was grim and it looked like the Nor'easter was targeting Rhinebeck. Amazingly the rain skirted the festival...not a drop landed. The sky was overcast, but the lack of sunshine meant it was cool enough for all of us to show off our hand knits!

Not all of the hand knits were equal. Dude, I hope your friends don't see my blog. How could you let her do that to you? Guess we know who wears the pants in that family.

I spent a lot more time with the animals then I ever have at MDS&W. There were tons of cute sheep, goats, alpacas and llamas. I got in some serious heavy petting...met a new boy friend, Buster Brown. I was too busy petting him to take his picture.


A couple of us made out with this llama, Biscotti Chips. She was pretty promiscuous and doling out kisses to everyone. I think Judy was trying to figure out how to get this cutie into her car. First time I have ever had llama kisses or seen one so affectionate and approachable...to everyone.

I fondled a lot of yarn, but bought very little, just enough to not feel deprived and not too much, so no feelings of guilt. I try very hard not to mix guilt and yarn.

Now, on to the downright weird. Have you ever seen an egg that didn't have a shell?

It was a little old by the time I got to see it. It was shriveling up and drying out. The membrane felt like really fine grit sandpaper.

They have had other egg anomalies at the farm. One of the eggs had three yolks. Does that mean it has triple the cholesterol?

I am already looking forward to returning to Rhinebeck!

Scraptacular

Pattern: James Dean Hat (Ravelry link) - designed by Lisa R. Myers

Yarn: Noro Kureyon ( one gallon ziplock bag full of scraps leftover from the huge Hexagon Blanket....yup, a lot of spit-splicing in these babies! God knows how many colorways are in the mix.)

Needles: US7 24" circulars

I whipped these hats up in a few days for donation to charity. It was the perfect use for my ziplock of scraps...some only slightly longer than a yard. As I said above there was a lot of spit involved. When I was all finished I had about a yard left over.

This is a great pattern, and my first time knitting it in the intended gage. I have knit tons of these using Koigu and giving them away as baby gifts. Those are always a hit.

Its a fast knit, but not entirely mindless. The skills needed for the project are a provisional cast-on, short rows and a 51 stitch Kitchnered finish. The good news is that you jump into the kitchner groove at about 7 stiches and cruise from there.

A huge thanks to my oh-so-fabulous models that I met in Rittenhouse Square. BTW, they lovvvvved my hats!

Intro

The girls who knit, know that I haunt the window at Rittenhouse Pet Supply. They use their window for kitty adoptions and I love me some kittehs. When I was working and having a horrible day, I would stop by and hold a kitten. Purring kittens make all evils go away.

There have been many close calls, when I thought yes this is the one I want to add to my family. And many times that I talked myself out of it...wrong sex...bad timing...whatever. Then I saw this little man in the window. Adopted yet? No- Check! I asked, boy or girl, with my fingers crossed. Little boy- Check! And the second I picked him up he started purring loudly. He was totally at ease and content to hang out in my arms, staring up at me. I was smitten.

The night I brought him home, he went to knitting circle first and met his knitting aunties. He got passed around the room and everyone got a chance to hold him. Everyone approved my choice.

Coincidently my mother and I both hit on the same name, Ajax. Think hero of the Iliad, not the cleanser. Its hard finding a good boy name...pull out Bullfinch's Mythology and give it a try.

Here he is checking out my fathers mustache for leftover dinner morsels. Mmmmm....is that mushroom soup? Maybe a little au poivre sauce? Delish!

Ajax was the only boy left in his litter when they were in foster care. They would all curl up in a kitty pile to sleep and he was missing his sisters. Artemis is not the snuggling type, but he has high hopes for Toscabelle. This is Ajax in the middle of a yawn and roll--his goal is spooning with Toscabelle. On his next roll she bopped him on the head with a mighty hiss and sent him running.

She still will not snuggle with him- poor lad. But they do have a fabulous time chasing each other around the apartment. Its pretty funny. Now that he is completely at home he has also found the voice that no one heard at the pet store. He talks more than Artemis and Tosca combined...nonstop. Its such a funny little voice for a kitty with so much swagger.


I love my little man!

Hexagon Finale

Once upon a time a talented designer, Megan Rogers, got the Noro bug and knit a hexagon blanket. I was mauled by the bug...badly. My hexagon fascination grew by leaps and bounds. There was no stopping me.

I knit through mountains of Noro and thought I was only going to make this blanket the size of a couch throw. It was wonderfully warm knitting it this fall with Toscabelle often nested in its folds.

Well, the blanket was a Christmas present for my parents. It was not quite finished on Christmas morning, but almost. This beast, even when I thought it was throw size was too big to block in my home, so I knew it would be unblocked under the tree. Washing this blanket was a huge challenge...several trips through the bathtub with Soak and a spin cycle in Mom's front loader.

Blocking was a family affair-- mom, Muffy and I stretching and pinning, EB supervising. It grew and it grew. The finished product was big enough for a twin-size bed.

Here's EB happily snoozing under his new blanket! Snug as a bug...

I don't think I will ever invest the time and huge amounts of dough into making one for myself, but my fixation with hexagons continues. Now that a crochet hook has been put back in my hands, I have visions of small crocheted Koigu hexagons wrapping my neck.

And for those who love Meg's designs...check out her two new patterns in the Spring Twist Collective.

Hearts and Flowers

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Valentines Day is traditionally not my favorite day, probably because I am without a sweetie...le sigh.


I have however finished my Hedgerow socks. Yeah, it took me almost a year to finish these. I cannot tell you why. Love the color--just look at this yumminess. It is Socks That Rock light weight in "Bleeding Hearts". I will confess to being a bit disappointed that after very little pooling on the ankles that it did start doing way funky things once I turned the heel. Next confession is that I managed to screw up a simple four row repeat, but at least I was consistent through the whole pair and they still look great. The socks are comfy and warm. I am now looking forward to knitting up more of my STR stash. Next time I will go down in needle size just a smidge...Addi's vs anything else in 1s. And I will go toe-up, I have short feet, only size seven and the cuffs weren't particulary long, but I finished with only about a yard to spare. It was a nail biter!

Well, no sweetie in sight, but these beauties arrived yesterday...

Tosca was very appreciative.

And no, I did not mug a delivery guy on the street.

Thanks, Daddy!

Comfort Continued

So, in the midst of this freakishly warm weather I am still in comfort mode. I am a realist and know that by the end of the week I will be back to mad layering. Last year Marissa made fabulous leg warmers from Noro Silk Garden in a handful of colorways. I coveted those leg warmers and settled for making my own. I am using Noro Kureyon for mine in two colorways, 188 and 207. I am doing mine in a k2p2 rib and knitting two rows of each color ala Jared Flood.

I knit them long enough to pull flat over my knees or pushed down slouchy below. They are knitting up fast and that is a good thing...I may need them this weekend.

Comfort part deux has come in the form of food. I am not sure what has come over me, but I have been cooking. First I made a killer batch of chili in my slow cooker. Next came two dishes of pumpkin chocolate bread pudding. I took one to my first attendance at Anjeanette's Fiber Night. Anj and her wife Sue are fantastic hostesses. I was really impressed with the bread pudding if I do say so myself. I found the recipe on Epicurious.com, it was from the October 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
5 cups cubed (1-inch) day-old baguette or crusty bread
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 generous handful of chocolate morsels (this is my twist...everything is better with chocolate, right?)

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Whisk together cream, pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, and spices in a bowl.
Toss bread cubes with butter in another bowl, then add pumpkin mixture and toss to coat. Mix in chocolate morsels. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Comfort

There has been a little too much comfort food this week. First I read Pozy Gets Cozy and became obsessed with her Coconut Custard. I have never baked a custard before--can it be done and still jiggle abit? Apparently, yes...

Turns out that it sets up after being out of the oven for a bit. (Its so good to have an aunt who is a cooking whiz!) The recipe is easy-peasy and really yummy. Bake up a bit of comfort for yourself.

Wednesday for dins, the girls and I went to Devil's Alley. I indulged in their mac and cheese. So so fabulous...my arteries are clicking shut just thinking about it. The crowning touch to their mac and cheese is tomato jam. I know a lot of people serve stewed tomatoes with theirs, but I often find the tomatos really acidic. This was sweet yummy bliss.

And because I cannot seem to get enough coconut this week, I had to stop at Brown Betty Petite and get a cupcake...chocolate with cream cheese icing and coconut. Somebody please stop me.

Fortunately not all comforting things this week were food related. I knit up this cozy hat using some of the alpaca from the visit to Southwind Farms. The pattern is Felicity (Rav link) by Wanette Clyde. Super quick knit, nothing tricky--my only suggestion is that it seems to run a bit on the small side. I got gauge (I know!) but ended up ripping it out and going up a needle size so the hat wouldn't shoot off the back of my head. I might give this another go, adjust for a chunkier yarn and add a little more length in the top to give it more slouch.

Oh MY!!!!

David has a huge unit!

(giggle, giggle)

Cuckoo for Cowls

They are everywhere, everyone is knitting them, and Ravelry has a zillion patterns. What could be better for a quick, cozy Christmas gift? Oh yeah, and an excellent stash busting exercise as well!

Here is Sherry, modeling the Tamarind Cowl (Ravelry link). I knit this using one skein of Manos del Uruguay. This is a free pattern download! Loved knitting this, very easy, quick and visually interesting. The recipient loved its lipstick red color...Philly in the winter needs some punchy color.

Cowl number two was knit with one skein of Manos as well. The pics of this, not so good. This is the Darkside Cowl (Ravelry link). Not a bad knit, but I am not certain that this was the right pattern for the right yarn. Love the color, but it might have needed a yarn with less substance and more drape than the Manos.

This is the Aibhlinn, knit with some modifications. The original pattern is for a very loose drapey cowl that you could pull up over your head, like a smoke ring. I cast on only 101 stitches to make a much closer fitting cowl. The yarn is from the fabulous alpacas of Southwind Farms, that I scored on last year's New England road trip with the girls. It is so soft and smooshie, I have started knitting a hat with some other yarn I got there. The other thing that I love about this cowl is the bobbles...my very first! Now I am almost as much of a bobble fan as Marissa. Okay, maybe not quite as bobble-crazed, but I am working on it.

Having knit three for girlfriends, I decided that I needed some for myself. This is the Stacked Eyelet Cowl. I bought this skein of medium weight Socks that Rock in the Hard Rock colorway several years ago. We had a love/hate relationship...so ugly that surely it was cool. I couldn't visualize this as socks and had no brilliant ideas on how to use it. Then this cowl came along and it looked like the design would hold up well to a high contrast yarn. I zipped through this one, and really love the results with one small catch. When I washed it, all umph left the yarn and now I have a yarn necklace rather than cowl. I'll be ripping this back and taking about 2 1/2 inches out of the circumference. There was a ton of yarn left over, so I made myself some wrist warmers to match. They have been a big hit since I have the heat turned down low.

This week's cowl is a modification of the Bubbles & Cables Cowl (Ravelry link), knit in Plymouth Suri Merino. The color....why Lisa Blue...of course! I have been wearing this all week. LOVE IT! Alpaca, Lisa Blue and bobbles, what is there not to love?

I don't think this is the end of my cowl kick. There are way too many great patterns out there, and lots of yarn in my stash. And right now I can use some instant gratification in my life.

...More Christmas

I missed all my knitting buds so much while I was up in Connecticut, slaving away for my mom! I have been dancing in the streets of Philadelphia, celebrating being home.

While in Simsbury I did get a small chance to interact with knitters. I went to the Simsbury Stitch'n Bitch at the Starbucks and spent some time with Rachel (rav link) who was knitting a snazzy fair isle beret. I also had what Jeannie called a "play date" with Bev. I had such a great time with her, hopefully if the girls do a road trip to Stitches in Hartford in the fall, you'll all get to meet her. And Julie (rav link) from Creative Fibers stopped in to Say Cheese for some fromage...I immediately recognized a fellow knitter from her sweet fuzzy armwarmers. She told me about Creative Fibers after-Christmas sale. Jeannie and I dutifully went shopping and did our best to relieve their inventory!

Part of my Christmas present to Muffy this year were some ornaments for her tree. I knitted up a bunch of covered glass balls with leftover sock yarn and gave her a few.

I also made her some adorable garland from recycled Christmas cards and clear nylon thread. The garland is super easy...I used a huge circle punch that I bought at Michael's. You punch out the circles, use glue stick on both back-sides and sandwich the nylon thread between.

I spaced the circles out about 3 inches. Its green and every other color under the sun. Some of the circles were fussy cut, so there are cute little faces, etc. on them. They give a great splash of color to a tree short on ornaments! Start saving up your Christmas cards...

While at the parents, Muffy and I rummaged through drawers in the guest room closet and found bits and pieces of our childhoods...an AEPhi sweatshirt from college, my graduation dress from high school, Paddington Bear, Raggedy Ann, and my much loved, lumpy baby doll Drowsely. Drowsely once had beautiful silky yellow blond hair. Much love and over attention had turned the 'do into a Don King look. Mom tried to salvage the hair years later...now she looks like a deranged monk. I think she should have stuck with the Don King 'do!

Finally, a white Christmas

Its been a long time since we have really had a white Christmas in CT. Days before Christmas we had two big snowfalls, great for the holiday visuals, bad for retail. I spent the weeks leading up to Christmas working at the cheese store my mom manages. I now know more about cheese than just Velveeta...I can even recommend a strong flavored brie or a milder one...how 'bout one with mushrooms for an earthier cheese. Are you impressed? I certainly am!

My parents have tons of deer in the woods behind the house. This visit, they frequently came down into the yard. Artemis and Tosca got quite a show...these guys are seriously bigger than squirrels!

Artemis is all about being in the center of the Christmas morning festivities.

Tosca is terrified of Christmas and for the second year in a row hid upstairs all day. She even refused to come downstairs for some attention and admiration when the guests showed up for wine and cheese before Christmas dinner.

This little guy has been in our family forever. His paint is disappearing, a side is broken in...but he still makes me smile. I love him.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and Santa brought you everything on your list!

Its all about me.

Dear friend, Jen, has commanded me to titillate you all with seven things about me....mwha ha ha...

1. My senior year in college I rounded up a bunch of co-conspirators and sorority pledges and made lime jello in the fountain at the Cathedral of Learning.  FYI, it took 4 cases of jello.
2. I can recite from memory the Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey. 
3. My one cat, Artemis, was never properly weened.  After 14 years, she still sucks on my left ear....slurp.....slurp....slurp.
4. I was born at the beginning of the baby boom after the JFK assassination.
5. I have arches in my feet that you could drive an 18-wheeler under.
6. I once got stuck at a one-star "hotel" on top of a Swiss Alp, trying to view the Matterhorn.  It was the beginning of July and there was a blizzard.  For the record, I don't actually think the Matterhorn exists.  Its just a painted cardboard set that they occasionally pull out of storage and photograph....I'm just sayin'.
7. I am currently amongst the ranks of a bozillion unemployed Americans.  Anyone know of an opening for a SAP business analyst??  I hear its all about networking...

I choose Robin, Andrea and Mick to play along.

Washoe

Last Thanksgiving this sweet bag of bones showed up at my uncle's home in Nevada looking for some attention and food. He had no collar and a bad case of fleas. If it weren't for the fleas and a holiday schedule at the vet's, there is a good chance that he might have ended up in a suitcase bound for Philadelphia. My uncle lost a black cat, Midnight, several years ago. I think Midnight sent this fellow to fill in the gap. The kitty stopped coming around shortly after I returned home. Broke my heart, cause I thought he was so close to being let in the house.

Well, he made it through the winter and started coming back around late this spring for some grub and conversation. He is quite talkative. By the end of the summer he'd been in some bad scrapes and needed emergency surgery at the vet.


All fixed up, he is now completely in control of the house. No longer scrawny, he looks like a bowling ball in a fur coat. My uncle has named him Washoe. He is a great cat, full of love, with a great purr. He also has no shame and not a trace of kitty aloofness.

It was great to get to know him over Thanksgiving. I am back to a trio of black kitties to love!

Meme time, meme place

I have been tagged for this Book Meme by Robin, the intrepid traveler.

The rules for this meme are:

Grab the nearest book

Open it to page 56

Post the text of the sentence on your blog along with these instructions.

Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest book.

My book is Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon. The book is hanging out on the shelf by my computer awaiting its fate...sold on half.com or passed on to a friend to read. Let me know if you are in the mood for a fun, charming murder mystery.

The fifth sentence on page 56 is: "Not for the first time in his career, Brunetti reflected upon the possible advantage of censorship of the press."

I'm now supposed to tag a few other bloggers to do the same:

• Wendy


• Jen


• Sherry

Fun with Jeannie...

or how not to wear a beret*

Golf anyone?

Snoods are back in fashion, aren't they??

Don't have a paperbag or lampshade handy?

French chef hitting the wine or eyepatch alternative?

The Queen from Alice and Wonderland

Ahhhhhhhh, now that is so much prettier!

*Berets are Ysolda's Gretel and the Purl Bee Beret