a southern gal knits in the north

distractions

Sorry for the lack of real life on this blog in the last few days.   There have been a few distractions:

The most recent distraction was yesterday - and unless you don't watch tv or listen to the radio or read any newspapers or the Internet, you know what happened.

It was close! but She and We Did It! 

I was so nervous during the evening I couldn't even knit!

These last two weeks leading up to yesterday were nail biting to say the least - read my main blog (its the first one over on the right) if you are interested.   There has been so much on the 'nets about what's going on - let me just recommend ONE website - REAL CLEAR POLITICS.  Try em, you'll like em.

And so continuing on.

The other recent distraction was my sudden surrender to the stomach flu that has passed around here - I must have received it from my nephews who adorable as they are had it two weekends ago.  Wed when I was there some little bug obviously jumped on board my ship and by Thursday afternoon I was in quite a sad state.

That meant missing weekly knitting group - and moaning on the sofa all achy all night.  

By Friday evening I was able to eat some toast and drink tea (don't lecture me on tea, if I don't have at least one big cup at the first of the day I am not to be reckoned with - and yes even when sick I drink it).  Although I must have still looked bad as my upstairs neighbor asked how sick was I.  (um, not too much thanks).

Saturday morning was the monthly knitting group meeting for which I took up a kind friend's offer of a ride and put myself together as best I could.  Wobbly legged and fuzzy brained as I was, it was still good to be there with others... the 2+ hours always FLIES by - we have such a good group - varied and full of lively members with lots of interested projects and always good stories and laughs.

Feeling emboldened by my success at sitting up in a chair for a few hours, I decided to try some food - accompanying two knitters to the local diner where I was able to eat a grilled cheese sandwich.  Actually I was hungry - it had been two days since I had eaten.

By the time I returned home, I needed a little nap and was able to listen to the end of the MET Radio Broadcast of OTELLO - the last act wherein Desdemona is killed by Otello.  Renee Fleming sounded exquisite - the best I have heard her in years (although her Traviata at the MET of recent time was superb too ). None of the swooping and excessive portamento that she has exhibited often in the past. 

Then for the first time in days I was able to sit and read my email and catch up on blogs - and to one of the best PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION shows this year certainly.  The Wailin Jennys and The Boys from the Lough were both on - two of my favorite groups and the skits were of high order as well as the monologue.  ( I have tickets to two of the three PHC NYC Live April broadcast shows and can't wait - it's amazing to be a part of the audience during the live broadcasts).   You can listen on line to any of the shows from several years past.  They are usually up by the Monday after the live show.

And yes, I am a huge GK fan - I would love to meet him - but so would everyone else in the audience I am sure.

The yarn I needed to complete the Red Tomten Jacket arrived on Saturday - Oregon Trail Yarns on eBay.  She is great and always gets me what I need very quickly.

However it seems that I have TWO major projects on SLEEVE ISLAND and I am SO NOT inspired to finish them.  Its much more fun to read blogs and play on Ravelry you know?

UGH - so tonight I am going to buckle down and work on one of them - the other is the CPH Variation - its done EXCEPT for the sleeves.

The other distraction in this household is my pregnant cat: yes, Cordelia is pregnant. 

She is about 4-5 weeks I think judging from all the information on the websites that I read recently. 

Certainly she is much more loving . Thank goodness she is showing less interest in going out cause all the research says to keep queens in during the last three weeks which we are very close to being at if not already in.

Basically she wants to be near me no matter where I am. 

Tonight after about a half hour, she got up off the wool blanket on the sofa where she spends most of her days now, came to find me at the computer; jumped up on the desk and promptly fell asleep right in the middle of everything on the desk.

It's going to be an interesting experience - my nephew is excited about the little kitties that will be coming - and so am I. 

So today I did one of those marathon grocery expeditions - I managed to be out of a bunch of those big items - Olive Oil (I buy the big cans), cat litter and cat food.  My research says that queens need to be feed kitten food during the last few weeks - so I got that instead of the usual Iams cat food.  And then I need to find or buy a laundry basket (one site suggested that instead of a box) and some cheap blankets to line so C can start getting her nest ready. 

Knitting wise I am having startitis in the worst way - and crave some lace knitting .  Luckily two gifting projects are looming and both will be good for lace knitting. 

For one of them (the earliest) after a long look around on Ravelry- want to have a go at the Shetland Triangle Shawl by Evelyn Clark - from Wrap Style.  But in looking at the book, see that's the only pattern I am interested in. 

At several friends' suggestions found a copy in the County Library system online and am now waiting for it be sent to my local library.  Upon asking them how long it would take, there was no idea so if its not here by Monday I may have to go with a back up pattern. 

Flowerbasket and Swallowtail are nice and have made both and they both knit up fairly quickly.

The last distraction has been my computer - which is dying a slow death.  ARGH!  

Today spent an hour just getting it to boot up.  Am currently researching replacement CPUs and hopefully will order something soon.  FINGERS CROSSED that it lasts.  (I have almost all of my important files on two external hard drives so only need to copy over a few).

Crochet a Coral Reef

Want to Save a Coral Reef? Bring Along Your Crochet Needles

Nicholas Roberts for The New York Times - Margaret Wertheim with a crocheted form during a workshop at New York University. The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef will arrive in New York in April.

By PATRICIA COHEN
Published: March 4, 2008

The exotically shaped creatures that began to sprout silently all over the cozy lecture hall were soon spilling onto empty chairs and into women’s laps and shopping bags. When fully grown, these curiously animate forms will find a home as part of a mammoth version of the Great Barrier Reef. But at the moment they were emerging at a remarkable pace from the rapidly flicking crochet hooks wielded by members of the audience.

Images of the The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

(LEFT) Part of the Crochet Coral Reef, which began 2 ½ years ago.

This environmental version of the AIDS quilt is meant to draw attention to how rising temperatures and pollution are destroying the reef, the world’s largest natural wonder, said Margaret Wertheim, an organizer of the project, who was in Manhattan last weekend to lecture, offer crocheting workshops and gather recruits. The reef is scheduled to arrive in New York City next month.

As she explained to the 40 people, nearly all women, who had gathered at New York University on Saturday, “This has grown from something that was a little object on our coffee table” to an exhibition that, so far, spreads over 3,000 square feet. And that was before the addition of that day’s catch.

Ms. Wertheim, a science writer, and her twin sister, Christine, who teaches at the California Institute for the Arts, came up with the idea of creating a woolly homage to the reef about two and a half years ago. The Wertheims, 49, grew up in Queensland in Australia, where the approximately 135,000-square-mile reef — and the billions of tiny organisms that it comprises — is located. But the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef (more on that in a moment), is much more than a warning about global warming. It marks the intersection of the Wertheims’ various passions: science, mathematics, art, feminism, handicrafts and social activism.

For that reason the project has attracted a wide range of participants, including the Harlem Knitting Circle (which arrived with 10 members), a student from a Westchester high school’s environmental science club who had never crocheted before, a geoscientist and a former mathematics teacher and sheep farmer in Australia who creates algorithms to calculate the length of yarn she’ll need before spinning and dying the wool from her own sheep. In Chicago, where the exhibition appeared a few months ago, about 100 women contributed to the reef.

RTRH

just a note

from the sick bed

(sofa, really).

back soon.

Cooking Baking and Eating, Oh My!

Maybe its the rainy/snowy/sleety cold weather. or maybe its just some of the food blogs rubbing off - but I have had a spate of cooking and baking in the last six weeks. 

Sunday I had to have some scones.  I searched and searched the web and found a recipe that looked good  (Thank you Epicurious.com)

Miniature cream scones with currants  [from Gourmet |  March 1990]

Scrumptious, not sweet (there is barely sugar in the dough but some on the top if you like), calls for cream but I used milk and butter instead since I didn't want to go buy some (next time).

The best in terms of rise and texture I have ever made - maybe it was the kneading? who knows, this is now my favorite recipe - can add stuff to it .  I omitted the currants and made them plain for this first time, will try cranberries and blueberries in the next batches.  Because of the low sugar content, these go with all foods - had one with my chili last night.

  

*     *     *

Chili. I love chili.  Don't know when I started but know I have to have chili in the freezer/fridge.  I have tried a few recipes but the current favorite is ... hmm, I have to figure out where I got it from.  Anyway, here is a photo

*     *     *
Soup - (again on Sunday!)

Chickpea Soup with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil
Found this yummy recipe and had everything at hand (!) and was craving some spinach too!  I changed things a bit. from the recipe cause I had cans of Chickpeas not dried.  And used up some frozen chopped spinach.  Also a little less stock/water so its a fairly thick soup .

I served it over fusilli pasta with parmesan grated on top.  Yum (oh and one of the scones too!)

Photo from Kalyn's Kitchen

*     *     *

And what's cooking today?

A new recipe in "tribute" of the rainy and cold weather today and tonight.

Irish Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread

Will report on how it goes.

Update

Technorati Tags: Tottering,Anne Tempest,Heirloom Buttons,Country Living,Country Life,Tomten Jacket,Central Park Hoodie

After a quiet January (the mildest weather in 70 years!), February has proved very Variable!  Snow storm on Friday and then in the 40s today with rainy/sleet mix turning to snowy mix tonight and tomorrow.  And then hi teens for tomorrow night! And this weekend?  40s again!

sigh... thank goodness for wool cardigans!

The 50 Heirloom Buttons book I won on eBay (at a really good low price) came last week - and was devoured in one sitting.  Some very interesting techniques for making the buttons - sewing, crochet and knitting are all represented.  Gorgeous buttons that are very inspiring.   The book says that hundreds of young women and children spent hours daily making these buttons in the factories in the 19th and early 20th century - and that after the introduction of plastic and wood machine made buttons, handmade buttons are only used for haute couture (which kept these techniques alive).  There are quite a few that will look good on some of my to-be-finished sweaters.

The Spring issues of the knitting magazines are beginning to arrive - Interweave Knits and Knit Simple so far.   Rowan came awhile ago.  Haven't read thru them yet - its too cold to look at short sleeves and beach scenes and besides I like to parcel out my knitting mags ... reading them over a few weeks.

One of my "dream" magazines is the UK Country Living ... oh how I love reading it - I had a subscription for a number of years but let it lapse over the last few.  Would buy them in the bookstores (Barnes & Noble mainly) but would often miss a month because there were usually just a few copies and unless you got there early in the month they would be gone.  However it was renewed for me as a gift this past Christmas and once again I am in thrall each month.   I rarely read it when it arrives - but flip thru for a preliminary peek and then save it for a special sit down and a cup of tea and a biscuit or two.

The photos are gorgeous - as is the allure of living a life on a farm or in a cottage by the sea or a lake or in the mountains - but of course the farm must be in the Scottish Highlands, or in Yorkshire or along the south west coast - maybe with a fishing boat too!  And there would be a dark good looking husband and a few children and lots of pets and... ah well!

Of course, the REAL country living magazine is Country Life.  The Granddaddy of all.  I actually subscribed for a few years - its TRES CHER for an American - but so yummy to read.  And has the wonderful Annie Tempest and her great cartoon.Tottering-by-Gently. 

Tottering-by-Gently is a village in the fictional county of North Pimmshire, where Lord and Lady Tottering reside at their ancestral home, Tottering Hall. Annie Tempest's prints are based on Lord and Lady Tottering (Dicky and Daffy), their daughter Serena and their grandchildren, Freddy and Daisy. Through Dicky and Daffy's extended family, Annie Tempest casts her gimlet eye over everything from inter-generational tensions, the differing perspectives of men and women, to dieting, field sports, and much much more.

See more at her website.  Cartoons here

Below is the one for the first week of January.

and from December 07

Back to reality and current knitting - working on three things in various stages of completion:

First, the Red Tomten Jacket for Walter, my nephew

 

As you can see, the body and hood are done and one sleeve started before I ran out of yarn.

Am waiting to hear back from the vendor who thinks she has the same dye lot available to send .

In the meantime, today I got the OK from Walter as to the color of the Pockets and the Hood and Front band ... a pretty sky blue.

At first he said that he wanted green but both my sister (the mom) and I steered him to the blue (its one side of his reversible parka) as we didn't want the obvious Holiday connection that Red and Green may bring (He is being raised Jewish).

SO that means I can start on the blue - hmm, now I wonder if I have enough of that !  Will have to check and maybe order some more!

Its Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted in Ruby Red.

 

 

The second project in my current rotation is my variation on the Central Park Hoodie for Walter's mom, my sister.

As with the Tomten Jacket, the hood and body and front bands are done.  So I find myself in Sleeve Land.  As I worked this in the round and am doing the sleeves from cast on at the steeks and knit down, I am having to make up a sleeve pattern as I go.

Will check some of my reference books - but I need to figure out the ratio of the decreases to get the sleeve size I need.

And then the decision to make button loops with I-cord.  Sister will have to decide if she wants them or a wrap belt maybe ?  (she is very thin and can carry that off).

 

 

 

 

The third project is my version of EZ's Aran Cardigan - I am still working on the body - so not much to report on that... just good solid cable knitting for a few more inches before the sleeve steeks.

 

 

 

 

PS If you didn't watch either Saturday Night live or This Week on Sunday, check my main blog for my take on the Clinton/Obama skits/talk.

PPS Reading Yarn Harlot today is dangerous - I found myself wandering the web looking for the same yarn - I already have the patterns she mentions and of course need to start two new cardigans like a hole in the head!

hook(er)s

That Yarn Harlot says the DARNDEST things:

In short, even if you don't enjoy it (and nobody says you have to) being a hooker is a good way to solve some of your problems quickly and easily, especially if you happen to be loose.

Creatures, comforting and not

 

One of my DAILY.NOT.TO.BE.MISSED blogs, Mrs. Blandings, today has the subject of a recent visit to her home by a tiny creature (that would be of the mouse variety).  Which reminded me of my several dealings with these as well.

See the rest of my post on this topic at my "other " blog

 

 

 

After posting that post I THEN looked at my big wall calendar to see that TODAY is my girls' Birthday!

Happy Birthday
my dear Cordelia and Katie!

You bring comfort and joy
into my life
and love every day!

 

 

 

See more of my cats at their Flickr set.

And on this really snowy cold winter day - to remind us that SPRING WILL COME (yes I Do Believe):

The Girls enjoying the backyard .

Hitchcock Fans Alert!

Saturday the 23rd is a celebration of the Oscars that HITCHCOCK received during the OSCAR MOVIE Tribute month at Turner Classic Movies

 

ALL HITCHCOCK ALL DAY!   Here in the Northeast - digging out of a winter snow storm - what a perfect line up for a Saturday indoors!

 

Or set your TIVO, DVR Timer

 

Two of my ALL TIME Favorite Hitch films are FIRST! 

 

Good Knitting Time!

 

 

7:30am		Shadow of a Doubt (1943) A young girl fears her favorite uncle may be a killer. Cast: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-108 mins, TV-PG
9:30am		Notorious (1946) A U.S. agent recruits a German expatriate to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring in Brazil. Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-101 mins, TV-PG
11:15am		Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1956) International spies kidnap a doctor's son when he stumbles on their assassination plot. Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-120 mins, TV-PG
1:21pm		Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Johann Mouse (1953) C-8 mins
1:30pm		North By Northwest (1959) An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase. Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-136 mins, TV-PG
4:00pm		Psycho (1960) A woman on the run gets mixed up with a repressed young man and his violent mother. Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-109 mins, TV-PG
6:00pm		Birds, The (1963) In a California coastal area, flocks of birds unaccountably make deadly attacks on humans. Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-119 mins, TV-

Did you see it?

Recent acquisitions and project updates

 

I have been searching for this on EBAY since last fall when Meg used it as one of the sources for the patterns in the Christmas Stocking for Eli (see Schoolhouse Press for pattern).

Several times I lost out as the prices skyrocketed to the triple digits.  But apparently patience is sometimes rewarded as this weekend I won it for low two digits! 

So Excited!

 

 

*     *     *     *     *

In January I took my mother into the City (that's NYC) for a seminar (she's a playwright) and decided to try parking near Knitty City [I had some gift money to spend]- and surprise!  A spot right in front of the store! 

NYC know has some of those automatic Parking Meters where you put in your money and get a paper ticket  with the time stamps on it and place in on your dashboard.  Just after I parked, a meterman was walking up to my car, I told him I had just parked and was getting my ticket right away!  So one hour of parking (only 2 bucks!) and I was set.  (although it was very windy so it took a few tries of putting the ticket on the dashboard and closing the door so that the ticket wasn't buffeted by the winds all over the car)

It was a very full store - two knitting classes were going on - and I spent a lot of time fondling the cashmeres after doing a sweep thru the yarns to see what was up.  After that I settled in near the books and found many that I lusted after but settled on two.

Yes, after reading about it for a few months, I succumbed - and then one day last week while prone on the sofa with the flu bug that is making the rounds, I read thru it.  By the time I got to the sections with the patterns, I felt as if I had had a graduate course on Yarns - A GOOD THING!   Everyone else has written praises and I add mine too - a very well designed book and one to which I will be referring very frequently.

 

My second purchase that day was a new one to me.

  

Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone
Secrets of Knitting Traditional Fishermen's Sweaters

By Sabine Domnick,

From the publisher..... "British fishermen's sweaters are some of the most satisfying creations a knitter can make. Their beauty comes from texture and pattern alone, yet they can be as spectacular or as understated as you wish. Traditionally worked in the round, with knitted-in sleeves, they require no sewn seams -- a boon for many knitters!

When Sabine Domnick first saw these timeless designs, she knew she had to find out all she could about how to make them. Now, as knitters always do, she shares what she's learned, demystifying the process and passing on the tradition to other hands. Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone is the exclusive English translation of her second book about traditional Guernsey (gansey) and Jersey sweaters. North American knitters are more familiar with the Irish Aran sweaters, but the Scottish and English patterns in these pages are made with finer wool on smaller needles, yielding less bulky sweaters that can either be "dressed up" or worn with a favorite pair of jeans.

With the information in this book, you can create sweaters you and your family will appreciate for years to come."

This is the English-language edition of Sweaters for Cold Days, originally published in Germany (2004).

It is a treat to read - and makes me want to start about six sweaters using all of the wonderful patterns. 

At check out time, the shop owner on seeing my books said "you ARE a knitter" at which I blushed. And if some lovely shawl pins jumped out of their basket and into my pile, well, you can never have too many non?

 

*     *     *     *     *

My variation on the Central Park Hoodie 9see sidebar) has reached the sleeve island phase - I love knitting in the round - the entire body is done (hood and front bands etc). 

But now I have to suck it up and knit those two sleeves - sigh.  It means figuring out decreases instead of increases so that means sitting down and doing some math...

so well, instead I started another Tomten Jacket  - this one for nephew Walter.  We discussed it last week and looked at pictures in the book (The Opinionated Knitter) since he out grew his grey sweatshirt style hoodie from last year - and being a very warm blooded child who eschews jackets normally - it will be a good "mid winter" weight to wear after its too warm to wear his down jacket. 

Of course the color is RED (Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Ruby Red)

Saturday I measured a current largish sweater (Hanna Andersson) and am plotting the sizes from that.

So last night started it during a catchup marathon of General Hospital (yeah, Sarah Brown is back! and a worthy opponent to Sonny!) and the latest two hour installment of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

After a swatch (yes I really did), I was getting 4 St/inch on size 7...so cast on for 28" (the front bands will add another two inches) and have about 10 inches already.

This part always goes fast - once you divide for the sleeves you have to knit on three separate sections... but endless garter stitch makes for good brainless TV companion.

  Last week I also started working on MY aran v-neck cardigan (see sidebar) ...it had been so long I had to rip a bit back to get the correct cable row as I am knitting this in the round as well!

Well in looking at the main cable in the back section, HORRORS!  I discovered that I had miscrossed (but consistently) two of the cables ALL THE WAY from the beginning!

YIKES!

After a few well chosen curse words at which Katie the cat raised a sleepy eyelid, I ripped all the way down to the top of the first repeat.

And then on double pointed needles reknit the cable back to the rest of the knitting.

Yes it was a pain but really you can't tell - I reknit from the two twisted knit stitches so I could tighten up the purl background stitches and not have any looseness in the fabric.

Need to measure how long I want to make this before the armhole steeks...and would like to finish this BEFORE the winter ends so I can wear it.

However, today it was 60 DEGREES (yes really) although the rest of the week looks more normal..highs in the 30s, etc.  Oh and Saturday night it was 19!  (no wonder we are all sick!)