Maybe I should post something for October

I haven’t been much into making things recently. Still have lots of great projects in mind, and love all the yarns and fabrics to make them; it’s just getting from point a to b that isn’t holding my interest as much. NaKniSweMo (national knit a sweater month in november) actually caught my attention so I’ve decided to give it a go. In the meantime I’m working on finishing up my current projects so I can devote the whole month to the sweater. Today I finished up my lace chunky blanket.

This is definitely going to see alot of use this winter. The alpaca is warm and toasty, while the lace pattern keeps it from being heavy and too hot.

Through the looking glass

Saturday the sun was shining and the weather was beautiful so I headed out to the Magic Gardens down on South St – a huge mosaic installation filled with winding paths going up and down and all around. It’s like falling into a dream and I couldn’t have picked a better day to go with the sunlight and shade playing through glass and bouncing off mirrors.  Everywhere you look is a new detail to take in or a glimpse into another pathway. This is hands down my new favorite place in Philly.

Knitting extremes

I’ve been knitting,  just not as much, but the two projects I have been working on are at the far opposite ends of the spectrum so at least I’ve got diversity. Project one is a pair of socks, which I would have sworn I already blogged about, but apparently not so much. Pretty simple pair using the Yarn Harlot’s basic sock recipe and Sockina Cotton in the forest colorway.  Project two is the Lacy Chunky Throw by Wenlan Chia on giant size 19 needles knit in Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in color frost that I was so excited to get I cast on that night. This yarn is scrumptious.

The needles for the blanket are so big it honestly doesn’t feel at all like knitting, but I still like it. Mostly because the part of me that wishes I were Buffy can see the multipurpose nature of the needles, perfect for staking and that wire if not covered with plastic would be an awesome garrote. With the proper force you might be able to decapitate a person with them.

My sister came to visit

My sister finally came to visit me in Philly. Here is a pic of us having fun in Love park.

Summer Reading

Every summer I search for the perfect books to read that have that special bit of magic that makes me can’t wait to get back to reading them when I put them down. Well this summer was a great big old bust on that, but I did read two pretty good books out of the bunch that I would recommend to others.

The first is Boomsday, written by Christopher Buckly author of Thank You for Smoking (yes the movie was based on a novel and I didn’t know that either until picking up the book). It has the same sense of humor and satire, but the focus in this novel is on the social security crisis, politics, and generational warfare between the baby boomers and gen y. The plot is set in motion by 20 something Cassandra Devine who pissed off at her jerk of a father and rising taxes to fund social security suggests in her blog that 20 somethings start bombing golf courses in protest and then later suggests that baby boomers should commit suicide by age 70 in order to make social security solvent. Its completely over the top, but funny and entertaining.

The second book is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I found this wonderful edition of the classic at a used bookstore and it reminded me of beloved library books I checked out as a kid. This is a book that I came to appreciate the most towards the end. The story is told in several narratives from different points of view. Usually I hate shifting points of view, but in this book it is done well. Everyone has different opinions of everyone else and a sometimes comic inability to see what is really going, and it is only as the book progresses that you learn all the different layers of the characters and the story as other points of view are given. This one I will have to reread again some day.

Of course now that summer is over, I have finally found a charming quick read – Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton.

My overgrown garden

I inherited a garden in my back yard. Its overgrown and doesn’t seem to be doing so well. I’m pretty sure the lone cucumber is well past it’s prime and I don’t think the tomatoes are ever going to turn red (probably aren’t getting enough sun). One lone pepper has turned red, but I don’t even like peppers.

Oh well, next year I will plant some german johnson tomatoes in a better location and maybe try some of those lemon cucumbers Melissa grows. Until then I have sufficiently consoled myself with the Headhouse farmers market where I have purchased some heirloom tomatoes on Sunday and other assorted goodies. Today’s lunch below was my version of grilled cheese and tomato soup, just substitute chopped tomatoes and a little salt in place of the soup. Delicious. I just have to share a picture because it was so colorful.

After finishing the minimalist cardigan I have moved onto some socks. The details:

Pattern – Yarn Harlot’s basic sock recipe from Knitting Rules

Yarn – Schoeller & Stahl sockina cotton in colorway 03 (Forest)

I’m using the knit picks super short 4″ DPNs. I really love the length for moving the stitches off the needle and don’t really have any issues with them poking me. Also, that bonus extra needle you get (they come in sets of six) really comes in handy when turning the heel.

All moved in

I’ve been all moved in for a week now. The moving boxes are all stashed in the basement, the pictures are up on the wall, and I have even finished cleaning out almost all of the mess from the previous tenants, including emptying out the tub of recycling they left outside filled with collected rainwater. Got over 20 mosquito bites on my legs from that mess because I didn’t think and did it while wearing shorts. Ugh. I have extracted my revenge though and sprayed down the whole little backyard area.

Here are some pics of everything:

This past weekend I’ve been able to finally relax and enjoy the place and the neighborhood. Today’s activities were a pretty meh brunch at National Mechanics featuring a bad bloody mary but excellent company, checking out the headhouse farmers market, and just enjoying some time outside reading. So far I am really loving it here.

Minimal

My minimalist cardigan is finally dry (malabrigo wool can really hold the moisture and I don’t think the humidty helps), so now I can show you pictures of it. I am really incredibly happy with how it turned out. Just the right fit and just the right amount of drape.

The details: Minimilast Cardigan by Ruthie Nussbaum knit in Malabrigo Merino Worsted color 96 – Sunset.

Other than that I’ve been spending my weekend packing – moving day is Friday – and watching Torchwood, a BBC sci-fi drama that is a more mature spin off of Dr. Who. So far I’ve seen all of the season 3 Children of Earth  special and about half of season 1. I’m liking it, but not going to get too attached seeing as theories abound that it has been cancelled.

Bits and Pieces

I’ve been finishing up a few projects around here, the minimalist cardigan is all knitted up and I just need to seem the pieces together. I also finished the cross stitch and took all three pieces to Michael’s to have them framed. Lucky for me they are running a really good sale right now and I am getting them done at half price. I love it when my timing works out great like that.

Sometime during the last few weeks I also made a little dish scrubbie thing following this tribble pattern and using Peaches & Cream cotton. By the way Peaches & Cream holds it’s color much better than Sugar & Cream – that pic was taken after much use and one washing.

a little rant before bed

Once again the minority of bat-shit crazy online knitters is intersecting with the extreme conservative xenophobic freaks and man am I sick of it. (Side note: does any one miss when the teaparty people referred to it as teabagging and we could all laugh every single time the term was used.) I’m not going to go into specifics because I don’t want to lead the searches back to my little site with it’s lovely 10 readers and cause all out bedlam. I just want to put out this little rant because these people disgust me and they totally ruin rav and elsewhere whenever I come across that particular brand of drama.

With that, I am going to flounce on out of here.