repeat from *

Oh...Koigu...yer so pretty

2007-01-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

Knitting time has been thin these days, with freelance and a wedding to plan (YIKES!) and real estate purchases in our near future (triple YIKES!). Yet, it's never been so calming to sit down and contemplate the perfect spring and mild sheen that koigu has when knit up into a sock. I'm knitting another anklet actually, even in winter i'm not a fan of socks that go all the way up. Some girls calves just need ta be free.

:: circa 1972 ::

2007-01-24T23:15:00.000-05:00

So, My sister has been scanning in all of our family photos, much to her own chagrin probably.

Circa 1972
My dad, after probably exhuastive research, learned that 35mm was the highest quality film he could shoot, shot 1000s of photos in a format doomed to bore every dinner guest to walk into our family home.

Skip to 2006
My sister sends this photo. It moves me to tears. It's a photo of me as an infant being held by my grandmother, and she just as the most earnest look on her face, I suppose the image needs to be larger. But it's not the typical "Smile you're feeding the baby" kind of photography art direction my dad is known for.

But I still can't help to think that in this photo:

1. Richard Nixon was president of the United States
2. Roe v. Wade, was being decided in the Supreme Court
3. Our TV had four channels ... NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, WOR (like fox only more ghetto and decidedly less simpsonesqe)
4. In order to change said channel, one had to get up off their rear end to turn the dial.
5. The word video game was incomprehensable — Atari was still 6 years off.
6. If you wanted to see a movie you went to a movie theater (sans fandango). No VHS, No DVD, No On Demand. (These people, played BRIDGE! and drank RYE! and who can blame them?)
7. My Fiancee was taking his first steps
8. I was wearing cloth diapers because pampers were still new and according to mom, outrageously expensive.
9. Mick Jagger, was already rich bastard. (talented, but he did study finance at the london school of economics folks)
10. The woman holding me, grandma, is still deeply missed.

6 weird things about me

2007-01-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the ever so talented Schrodinger.

1. When I was a kid, my mom gave our pets dialog. They spoke to us and were our friends, more like siblings actually. And I was about 9 before I figured out that every time the cats talked my mom's mouth moved. She still makes her cats talk. This terrifies my fiancee.

2. I can not tie my shoes. Unless you count the bunny ears method,— but I never mastered the squirrel around the tree method. Generally, I wear shoes that don't tie. I have look around twice at the gym to make sure no one sees me tie my sneakers. Countless people have tried to teach me, including teachers, friends, parents, and a therapist. I knit, yet, the whole squirrel around the tree thing, just doesn't work for me.

3. I may be the worlds only disorganized germ freak. Papers everywhere, fine, no problem, a scrap of food on the floor? Now THAT breeds bacteria, attracts vermin or worse. After cutting chicken on a cutting board, I am tempted to pour boiling kettle water on it. I refrain, because this is ridiculous, but modern anti-germ marketing has done me in. In a big way.

4. I hate the sound of steel wool. It has a sound when you pull it apart and that sound hurts my head.

5. I am terrified of fire. It has always scared me, rendered me panicked when it appears even the slightest bit out of control (...like, when a barbecue flares up, for example).

6. I fantasize that loved ones who've passed on to whatever place they go to, get to look in on you on special days. Like, for example, on Christmas my grandfather can look in and see a slice of my life. Through that slice he can see how his son grew up and the whole family and his great grandchildren. Apparently in my fantasy, there are only so many slots (you know like cable ports on your computer). There are a lot of dead people, so it's kind of a lottery thing. To clarify, I don't ACTUALLY believe you can be visited by the dead, I just think it would be cool.

:: Hiatus Ended ::

2007-01-17T07:57:00.000-05:00

Like that didn't take long enough.

Well Ms. Tabitha is in kitty heaven, rolling around in a big catnip plant, or as she once did in real life, gorging on an unattended bag of dryfood until she can't move.

Sadly, I kept trying to write and I'd see her photo and get sad — and I couldn't remove it for obvious reasons. Now her photo makes me smile again and I can write again. Silly me with the lack of foresight! Hello!

Anyway, to Susie and Annoymous, your comments were well appreciated at the time, thank you for your heartfelt words, they meant a lot even if I could not respond right away. (darn photos)

Now on to knitting. I've finished a Hat and some socks since last post. Photos to come! yey!

:: End of Hiatus Coming soon ::

2006-10-26T21:41:00.000-04:00

Well

My blog hiatus will be over soon. My sick kitty had cancer, I have been tending to her needs for the last three months, a chore that took almost all of my time, and given that she's been so loving to me, I was happy to do it.

In the meantime I have finished a Multi-Directional Scarf (knit in bed with ailing elderly cat). And I forgot how much handmade objects allow you to bring one aspect of your life into another in a good way. I call the multi-directional scarf "Tabitha's scarf" and everytime I put it on I remember her purring under the covers as I made it.

It's nice to have that with me when i walk out into the cold.

c

Oak Ribbed Anklet

2006-08-06T15:23:00.000-04:00

Voila! one oak ribbed anklet. I don't knit anklets out of laziness, I knit them because I like short socks. My calves are long, and socks have never fit me right, okay, duh, maybe I should make long socks that fit me....we'll let that one wait for cooler weather...

anyway.
yarn is flames from sundara yarn, seems she's not carrying the colorway -- even in her discontinued multicoloured yarn section... :(

....and.....she....waits....

2006-08-02T21:27:00.000-04:00

more with the bummer posts.
but i'm still waiting for results on my sick kitten. the lab messed up her slides so we're still in a holding pattern. she hasn't been a kitten in 15 years, but she'll always be a kitten to me.

she loves attention (fro me only actually) and she's sitting here with me as a I type.

Knitting Partner

2006-07-29T12:02:00.000-04:00

Confession, since I started knitting five years ago, I've done none of the work on my own. There's always been a ghost knitter at my side, taste testing the needles for me (thank-you), and sitting on my charts to keep them warm. Her name is Tabitha, and shes just shy of 16 now. We found each other when she was 8 mos. old.

In addition to being a ghost knitter, she has also been at varying times: break up therapist, sick day sidekick, exterminator (don't ask), bed warmer, pillow, master shedder, and alarmclock.

She's sick now, we don't know what's wrong with her. But even when sick, she still keeps up her role as best ghost knitter ever. (sorry fred, I'm biased on this one).

It's Raining Basil.

2006-07-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

I love these two weeks of the summer when basil is so cheap that stores practicly give it to you with your purchase of a watermelon.

Yesterday's trip to the new fairway in Red Hook yeilded so much basil for $3 whole dollars that I spent the early afternoon hours hiding behind the air con. and making pesto.

more pesto than you can shake a stick at (if you're into that kinda thing, shaking sticks at food products, that is)

behold.
Basil + Pine Nuts + Cheese + Olive Oil + Food Processor = Pesto. :)

Operation Floral Degree has begun

2006-07-13T08:21:00.000-04:00

I think I may do my own wedding flowers (not the hard stuff, mind you, we'll leave that to the pros), but simpler stuff like table decorations, I think this DYI-er can handle. If my first hat was cute, but lame, and so is my first arrangement, c'est la vie. I got time. I got books, I have patience (sort of), and a FLORAL KNIFE --- watch out!

btw. this online store is in the flower district, they have a lot of very fun toys.

Pretty things that inspire me now..

2006-06-22T08:30:00.000-04:00

My Aunt Charlotte, who is an avid, accomplished quilter is making us a quilt for our wedding. This is the best wedding present I can possibly think of, and to be brutally honest, the first thought that came into my head after saying yes to my honey's proposal. (...."I wonder if Aunt Charlotte will make us a quilt).

She is!

And, now I have to pick out fabric, so I've been hunting around for good fabrics and stumbled onto these. They're too big for the quilt pattern I like, but boy are they perty.

All from reprodepot

Maybe I need to make pillows...

2006-06-20T20:14:00.000-04:00

I pretend I don't exist...

This one goes out to my honey, who's currently obsessed with Antartica...

While wedding-ness-y things are swallowing me whole, and other life stuff is cropping up...I've been knitting yet, not blogging, yarn photos to come...

once the engagement party photos are off the camera....ugh....and, uh, yey!

Finito!

2006-04-23T10:11:00.000-04:00

Feet are warm now that the weather has turned cold. This is the first and only time that I've had a good FO/Weather collaboration. The socks don't exactly match and are too big on top. I keep forgetting that they're supposed to be a bit snug. (DUH). But not so bad for pair of socks numero deux.

It continues to relieve stress.....

2006-04-23T10:04:00.000-04:00

I couldn't help myself but to stitch another one of these bad boys. It just helps to relieve stress. In a snarky sarcastic way, hate to say it but it might be more affective than yoga.

Speak your mind

2006-04-16T09:31:00.000-04:00

To help deal with wedding stress — I decided to channel my energy into something, er positive.
Voila! I introduce, this fine piece of subversive cross stitch. I feel better now.
And since last night ended with no finished socks, or no finished tax filing extention. (we have till tuesday in this state). Here's some yarn porn. mmm. noro silk garden that I found — while looking for a spot to have our not so little wedding. Yarn? Wedding? Yarn? Wedding...mmmm, yarn!

Long time no post.

2006-04-15T22:16:00.000-04:00

Holidays and wedding activities have kept me from my usual off hour pleasures. however soon to post finished socks and maybe a start on the april project spectrum project. I bought the yarn for it...does that count?

Things are moving along...

2006-03-26T23:11:00.000-05:00

Good News on Sock No.2 in the cursed second pair of socks. So far........so good......knock on wood hopefully we'll come through this okay. I finally have the basic sock pattern kinda memorized. But I keep making them a little too big (not in length in width). Oh well.

Next up: The skein I spun for Project spectrum is finished. It's hand dyed hand spun merino mohair this photo's kinda crappy it has many varigations in color. Me likey.

And, last but not least, a few weeks ago this stuff came from Sundara Yarn. I can not wait to knit it up. The color way is flames. I don't know if she's still carrying it but she has some other lovely colorways up there too. I love acid daffodil.

The number 2==== Cursed.

2006-03-19T10:02:00.000-05:00

okay,
This is the first sock from my 2nd pair of socks, simple, simple stockinette. I thought I would get sock construction basics down, then get all fancy.

Why is it that the simplest sounding things (basic stockinette stitch) can be the most annoying and complicated? 'cause you get cocky.

Pbbbffft, it's stockinette, I don't even have to think
Pbbbffft, I can race through it.
Pbbbffft, of course I don't have to stop every once in a while to count stitches, how can you possibly screw this up?

Well the sock said Pbbbffft back.
I actually knit this one sock, pretty much 2x I had to tink 2x, and frog majorly 2x. It's done, and I'm now onto the 2nd sock in the 2nd pair.

Given that I am now convinced the number 2 is cursed. I'm going very slowly.

Fiancé...It's French....B*tch

2006-03-14T19:12:00.000-05:00

Well there were no posts this weekend, alas, mr.cynthia proposed. Even after that last post where he came in as the third love of my life. (That was meant to be sarcastic. He can handle it. Which is good because he can dish it too, and I wouldn't have it any other way.)

So now he is my Fiancé and that's F-a-n-c-y.

And he is the love of my life.

mushy.mushy.gushey.lovey goodness.

YEY!
:))))))))))

Project Spectrum Spinning

2006-03-05T11:34:00.000-05:00

exhibit a:

It's been calling from the stash. I've heard it softly, calling my name. It wouldn't stop. The hand dyed bats that I made in spinning class I've been itching (no pun intended, and no they're not itchy) to be spun up.

see exhibit a: talking bats: sfx: "cynthia you're ignoring me, I'm so pretty spin me, come on you know you want to")

They're colorful. And since color is my first love, fiber a second, and my boyfriend the third. (sorry baby). I've decided to join project spectrum. I'll be spinning these puppies for the month of march (red-pink month).

Red and pink are my favorite colors, (hence the hair dye) maybe this spectrum thing will help me to learn to love colors like, blue.

Beach Knitting (new project !)

2006-03-02T08:22:00.000-05:00

Why read on the beach when you can knit ? Everyone loves sand in their socks.

Started pair of socks #2.
Anklets out of Opal Chamelion. Using this translation of the opal label pattern.
This time on size #1 needles.

˚o˚o˚Socks in their natural habitat ˚o˚o˚

2006-03-02T08:18:00.000-05:00

The photographic proof is late, but the socks are finished, woo hoo. I wish I were still there.

Gone Fishin'

2006-02-26T09:49:00.000-05:00

or tannin' or swimmin'.
cynthia's mommy rules. she's off knitting her second pair of socks in sint maartin. thanks to a little help from her awewsome mommy and her awesome mommy's time share, and an aa fare sale, and sunblock.

but to even out the score, I have a cold, and sneezed on myself wearing a snorkle mask, something I do not wish on anyone, and I mean it. It was ugly.

˚o˚o˚ Time 1:52 am ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-18T01:52:00.000-05:00

One Olympic Sock, for my one olympic sized foot. Note gymnastic yoga pose required for photograph.

It's rough around the seams, and a tad large :|
But, it is a sock. An actual sock. And it's comfy too... Now for sock #2. After.....(yawn)....a....nice(yawn)...little(yawn)....nap.....(*thud)

oh, if only #10 were true

2006-02-18T00:46:00.000-05:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Cynthia!

During severe windstorms, cynthia may sway several feet to either side.
Edinburgh imports three thousand kilograms of cynthia every year.
In the Great Seal of the United States the eagle grasps 13 arrows and cynthia.
Red cynthia at night, shepherd's delight. Red cynthia at morning, shepherd's warning!
It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be cynthia!
It is impossible to fold cynthia more than seven times.
If you drop cynthia from more than three metres above ground level, she will always land feet-first.
It's bad luck for a flag to touch cynthia.
Cynthia is the last letter of the Greek alphabet!
Cynthia can squeeze her entire body through a hole the size of her beak!

The last of the spinning....for...now....

2006-02-17T21:36:00.000-05:00

Spindle spinning class is over, and these are the fruits of my labor :). All of them dyed with acid dyes (mordanting has the faint whiff of a home perm). Next up, WHEEL CLASS. The wheel was so fun, so, so very hauntingly fun. I sense danger.

But for now, this stuff has to be knit up too... :)

From Top to Bottom:
Bamboo Silk
Red Alpaca (originally a grey and white blend)
Lone Gold Baby Alpaca Skein (it will make a lovely stripe)

olympic updates tomorrow.

˚o˚o˚Advantage Team Igloo? ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-12T12:21:00.000-05:00

Well looks like we're not going anywhere today. Our apartment looks like an igloo. It's a long skinny loft with two sets of narrow windows at the back end of the apartment, with a charming view of a the back of a theater and the worlds scariest allyway. All of the natural light comes from skylights, it's like we have a round doorway, and a little chimney. We live in an igloo, and from the looks of it, we'll be staying here for quite a while, unless we head to difara's for pizza...in the hopes of having no line....fellow brooklyn knitters....don't get any ideas.

This skein was spun and plied during the first 5 episodes of "Lost" last night. Skein #3 of Baby Alpaca. woo hoo. Too bad it's not the spinning olympics.

Handspun pride

2006-02-11T12:47:00.000-05:00

This is it, I'm in love and proud of the most workable pretty handspun yarn that's come off this spindle yet...it was the victim of an unspeakable plying accident, the photos of which have been censored so spare the innocent. Recussitation was partially succesful...

And here's a photo of bamboo part deux, now there's four ounces, and about 180 yards of it.... of it, enough to do at least, something......

social life? who needs that?

˚o˚o˚ KWI alert ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

I went out with the beautiful and talented cassie last night, we knitted in a thai restaurant, and had the cursed third glass of wine (and it was my idea). That' s right 3 and I'm out, I managed to get a cuff in though. Before passing out on the couch with my unreliable overweight furry assistant.

There is a yarn over that was corrected in there, darn, but at least it was still workable. (slap) bad knitter. very bad.

˚o˚o˚ Brooklyn Needs Love Too ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

For all who asked on Autumn Sweater if they could represent for their pals in brooklyn, here are a few "Official Support Posse" buttons to rip off. Wish y'all were knitting along :)

˚o˚o˚ Where's Brooklyn? ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm still surprised that there's no team brooklyn. kids.
What is up with that. We've got true grit (just look at my windowsills for proof).

If Jay-Z can represent so can the knitters.

So, if anyone else has a better idea, please go for it but for now, here's some team brooklyn representation.

˚o˚o˚ Training Complete ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-04T13:58:00.000-05:00

The swatching is done. The gauge is on. It's on, oh, IT IS ON! Yarn is Alpaca with a twist "Landscapes" in "Fire Island". Linda LaBelle at The Yarn Tree sells it online. It's deliciously soft and feels so good to knit.

Meanwhile, in spin land, I'm racing to finish this Bamboo silk blend for our final class where we get to use Earthhues dyes. Once you check out those colors and those PRICE TAGS you'll see why i'm racing to spin as much as possible.

˚o˚o˚ The Knitting Olympics ˚o˚o˚

2006-02-02T20:10:00.000-05:00

oh hell, why not.
It's not like I have a job, or take a class or anything. No, this is about personal challenge, growth, pushing your own boundries, and finding ever more creative ways to avoid going to the gym.

I will be knitting socks. Or at least A sock. If I can do two, I'll really feel like a champ. But If I get through two, then I'll really go to the gym, really, I mean it. Seriously.

: : : C O L O R : : :

2006-02-02T19:23:00.000-05:00

So these are my first dyed rovings (again, thanks to spinning class). Kool-Ade and food coloring dyed Merino/Mohair blends. And while I confess to adjusting the color on the photo a little bit to remove the tungsten brown/yellow tinge—sort of unsucesfully..., those colors are for real.

Equally beautiful, and totally terrifying, seeing as I did drink the stuff as a kid. The walking pitcher TV adds were the stuff of nightmares. He scared me. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

Blurry Bing

2006-01-29T21:27:00.000-05:00

Here it is, one warm blurry boyfriend scarf. Better photo to come. But he did model :P

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

2006-01-29T12:03:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for nice "Handmade by" tags for a while now. Something simple, minimal and clean, and yesterday I stumbled on these from Charm Woven.

Nice variety, cheap, and they also have stock care labels which are good for knitted gifts that might wind up in the hands of someone who wouldn't know how to care for handknits. ($3 for 25 I think).

And while I loved the big tags. I have to confess that I opted for the smaller ones, as I make a lot of baby stuff, and some people find tags annoying and want to cut them out.

Progress (whew)

2006-01-29T11:39:00.000-05:00

Let's see, yesterday it was almost 50 and sunny, a perfect day to walk around in a freakishly warm January.

But, nooooo. Someone on the verge of finishing her bada-bing scarf had to do the extra push to finish it. (Knitting is complete, it's been fulled, and is drying, still needs blocking). The recipient will model it for the blog — he's not aware of that yet.

What better to do while finishing a scarf made out of a llama nammed bada-bing? Of course, catch up on the Sopranos seasons you missed from your cheap days as a non cable subscriber.

Then, because you're almost done with season three, what better to do than ply that baby alpaca yarn on your spindle. Four ounces yeilded a LOT of yarn, the fiber is so light. This is a full plied skein, I can't imagine what would have happened if I had intended to keep it as a single. I still have enough for a whole 'nother skein.

Then your boyfriend returns home to find you still in your Pajamas watching Tony Soprano reluctantly bump off every member of the Aprille family and says, "YOU STILL HAVEN'T LEFT THE HOUSE?".

Uh, what gave that away? the pj's, the bed head, or the fact that I am talking like a Waste management consultant from North Jersey? Maron!

Is it okay to drool on silk?

2006-01-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

We learned how to spin silk in last weeks spinning class. Check out these silk hankies that "accidentally" came home with me. (*sigh) This stuff has to stop jumping in my bag, seriously. This is a silk hankie from Chasing Rainbows, the same hankies mentioned in knitty article here — and here (this also gives instructions on how to spin silk, do not ignore the advice on moisturizing your hands — trust me.).

Cheesy Goodness

2006-01-22T21:26:00.000-05:00

Little miss muffet, and mr.muffet (mostly mr.muffet) made cheese. One big ball of cheese! Mom got us a cheesemaking kit for christmas, and as I write, our mouths are full of fresh mozzarella. That was surprisingly easy. mmm. tasty.

Gotland Skein

2006-01-21T12:08:00.000-05:00

Yey, It's done! The yarn spun "in the grease" went super fast, it didn't yeild a lot of yarn, and it's incredibly uneven. The fiber is Gotland, and they're really really long. I plyed it to help even it out. This was my first time on a bottom whirl spindle, but I still think it's pretty. Even if it does still have a little “eau-du-barnyard.” Think it needs to be washed one more time.

:)

mmmm...barn-y...

2006-01-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

Spin classs was last night, we learned carding and brushing — and like the purist I pretend to be—I spun wool "in the grease" (unwashed locks from the sheep). It's greasy, and well, kinda stinky, but it's so fun, the fibers litterally just fall through your fingers. Tonight I'll finish and ply. It sure did leave a lot of waste after combing it out. But if armegeddon were to happen? — I am finally useful.

We also learned about VM, Vegetable matter, guess what that is (hint, it's not brussel sprouts)

Bada Bing

2006-01-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

My poor cold boyfriend still does not have his scarf. Can someone please anybody remind me NOT to knit a scarf on a size 7 again? That's what they make 10s for. 11s, 19s! This is made of Bada Bing (Bada Bing is the name of the llama, who's wool was sold at rheinbeck) — bada bing did not come cheap, this is his natural color — unlike my hair color — But If I run out, they promised to shave more of him and spin up more wool SWEET. It was lightweight, good for a 5 or 6, screw that, I went up to an 7 with a wool alpaca blend. Progress:: It's a good 50" long, only 30 more to go, That's a lot of trips to the laundry mat.

You spin me right round baby right round.

2006-01-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

Behold I have made yarn. It's low tech, and tricky if you're type-a. I love to knit, so like, duh. Skein #1 is merino, Skein#2 alpaca wool blend, Skein #3 is baby alpaca—grey, and alpaca white. (must be from a non baby alpaca). Whatever, still so soft. Going to varigate this one, and then ply it see what happens. Time to start spinning and stop writing about spinning.