Tagged, I'm It

The Christmas Rose bag is creeping along. Part of my excuse for slow progress is that I can't take it with me. I'm used to doing bags from the bottom up, which makes them perfect candidates for take along knitting since they form their own container for the yarn; this bag, lovely as it is, works top-down and is thus somewhat of a PITA to tote. So I started another Multidirectional Scarf (using some Morehouse Merino I scored at the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival back in October). In the meantime, my Knitters Review buddy Kim has tagged me for a meme! I finally feel like one of the popular kids in high school. Here goes:

Four jobs in my life [best to worst]:

1. Waitress at the Brasserie Restaurant in Bennington, Vermont circa 1974. Nothing like coming home with tired feet, free food and money in your pocket.
2. Story analyst for various film companies, circa 1983-1985. I actually got to read books for a living. The perfect work-at-home job, until I had babies and didn't have time to work at home.
3. Word Processing Operator at a NYC corporate law firm. Where, in order to be with the above-mentioned babies during the week, I worked a 35 hour work week in two days. 7am-midnight, Saturday and Sunday. No better way to spoil a weekend than spending it with abusive attornies.
4. Admissions Director at a NYC nursery school. My current job. 275 applications for 30 spots. First stop of the Harvard-Yale-Princeton express. I judge two year olds. I'm not proud.

[I should note: I'm also not complaining. I feel compelled to cite the worst job ever, held by a friend who once labored in a hearing aid factory and had to clean the ear wax and hairs off the appliances returned for repair. Shudder.]

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. The Godfather. "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
2. Dirty Dancing. "Nobody puts baby in a corner."
3. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. "Bring in the FEMBOTS!!"
4. Mommie Dearest. "Tina! Bring me the ax!!"

Four places I have lived:

1. NYC--every place else has been a drive-by, really.
2. Bennington, VT
3. Jaffrey, NH
4. Philadelphia, PA

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Prince Edward Island, Canada
2. Martha's Vineyard, MA
3. Ocean Grove, NJ
4. Los Angeles, CA

Four websites I visit daily:

1. Knitters Review
2. Gawker
3. Television Without Pity
4. You Knit What?

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Mmmm...Fried Chicken
2. Mmmm...John's Pizza with sausage, peppers, onions and mushrooms.
3. Mmmm...rare, fatty steak
4. Mmmm...lobster. OK--Mmmm...butter.

Four places I'd rather be right now:

1. Prince Edward Island, Canada
2. Martha's Vineyard, MA
3. Ocean Grove, NJ
4. Bruce Springsteen concert, circa 1975. Third row, center.

Four bloggers I am tagging:
(last four knitters to announce new blogs on Knitter's Review):

Jessica
latoyadenise
Prof. Knitwit
Sappmamma

Whew.

Let the Games Begin

After too much whining about my slow pace in 2006, I think I might have found the kick in the pants I need: The Knitting Olympics, organized by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee of Yarn Harlot fame. The challenge: Cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (Feb 10), and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (Feb 26). I will be doing a Saranac from the Summer '05 Knitty (the scary men's issue), and I vow to smash the kneecaps of anyone who gets in the way of my needles. The thrill of victory, the agony of the twisted circular cast-on.

New Year, New Knits

The fact that this bag is called "Christmas Rose" and the fact that it's already almost Martin Luther King Day should give you an idea of the slow progress I've been making on my knitting in the New Year. Anyway, here's a beginning, being worked in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in varying shades of pink and purple.

Gift Bags

Happy New Year to all. Between the holidays and the NYC Transit Strike and an early season flu and darling daughter breaking her finger playing volleyball and necessitating an emergency room visit and surgery and the holidays I haven't had much time to knit...actually, I have been knitting, just haven't been posting. I've been on a bag kick lately. What is it about girls and bags? The urge to carry stuff around with stuff inside it. The uterus thing seems too obvious; I'm hoping it's something cooler. Anyway, these two gift bags made it in under the wire to be the final F.O.'s of 2005. The little squat one on the right eeks out the last remnants of Noro Silk Garden to contain some stinky (in a good way) soap and candles for a friend. Based on the one that's on the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts, adjusted for gauge and pompon tie added. I decided I like the idea of pompons more than the execution. The one on the left is a champagne sweater, utilizing some stash Crystal Palace Tweed and the much maligned but surprisingly useful Bernat Disco. The shape is a simultaneously scaled down and elongated Christmas Rose Bag from Handknit Holidays, which I'm hoping will become my first F.O. of 2006. Stay tuned, if you're interested.

Bunny Baby Hat

All together now: Awwww. Bunny Hat (based on a pattern here) for an expectant co-worker. Used good old fashioned Wool-Ease with Lamb's Pride for the inner ear, size 7 circulars. Cute, huh?

Cookie Monster Drag Queen Scarf

Since I couldn't find a Muppet, here is America's Real Next Top Supermodel, Ms. Joan Rosen, working the Cookie Monster Drag Queen Scarf (based on a pattern found here). Thanks to the intrepid Kim on the Knitters Review forum, I acquired the extra skein of eyeball-bleedin' Bernat Disco needed to finish the dirty deed in time for my mother-in-law's Christmas gift. Whew. Sunglasses off, back to regular knitting.

The Muppet's Revenge

Behold my mother-in-law's nearly finished scarf. Look at the upper left side. Yup...I ran out of eyeball-bleedin' cookie monster in drag Bernat Disco with about three inches to go. Can yarn cackle manically while feeling sweet revenge? If not, then what's that sound? If anyone wants to swap their free ball of Aqua Velvet Bernat Disco, leave me a comment and I'll send a ball of kid silk from my stash along with priority return postage. Sigh.

Thanksgiving (No Knitting Content)

What I cooked: same old stuff as the past 20 years or so, but this is why we like Thanksgiving. Turkey (duh), cornbread and sausage stuffing, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, collard greens. Gravy. Cranberry Sauce (and it's got to be the smooth kind, from the can). For some reason, this year I feel compelled to blog it all.

How I cook it: the turkey is adapted from an old Jane Brody cookbook that has since disintegrated. Basically, I take a 12-15 lb. bird. Take out the neck and the gizzards (yes, of course I've forgotten once or twice), put in a pot with a chopped onion, a stalk of celery, some seasoning, cover with a jumbo can of chicken broth. This will become gravy. Let the bird sit at room temperature for an hour or so. Sprinkle it with Tony Chachere Creole Seasoning. Make a paste of olive oil, broth, garlic and paprika. Smear it on the bird. For good measure, I also make a paste of 1/2 stick softened butter mashed with some thyme and sage, and smear that on, too. Tent the bird with foil, put it in a 325 degree oven for about 3 and a half hours. Pour some more butter over after the first hour, and every half hour after that. Remove the foil for the last hour or so.

I usually stuff: make a pan of cornbread the night before (3/4 cup cornmeal, 1-1/4 cup flour, 5 t baking powder, 1 t salt, 2 T sugar [4 T if I'm making it to eat]. 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 2 T melted butter. Mix lightly). Let the cornbread sit overnight to dry out. In the morning, fry up a pound of sausage (preferably bulk, but squeezed out hot Italian links will do). Add a good sized onion chopped, two stalks celery chopped. Bell's Seasoning when I can find it, if not chopped fresh or dried thyme and sage. More Tony Chachere. Add to cubed cornbread, let it sit until the Today Show is over and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade starts. Shove a handful or so in the turkey and put the rest in a casserole. An hour or so before dinner, dot with butter, moisten with broth, and stick it in the oven.

During the last hour of the bird, make some greens: a few bunches of collards, washed. Ideally, get them from Smile Deli on 181st Street and Fort Washington Avenue, which pre-washes all its vegetables with great care. Chop a couple of strips of bacon and brown them in a pot. Chop and add the greens (to chop greens roll them into cigar-like strips and slice horizontally). Sprinkle with...more Tony Chachere. Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Cover with about a cup of water, and cook the hell out of them...at least an hour, more doesn't hurt.

When the bird comes out, make macaroni and cheese. Make a light roux out of 2 T butter, 2 T flour. Heat and add about 2 cups of milk. Add about 1/2 pound of cheddar-esque cheese (the best cheese is NYC welfare cheese--the block kind they give you if you're on public assistance--but if you make too much money to qualify any cheese is OK). Sprinkle the faux bechamel with...Tony Chachere (really, I have no affiliation). Turn into a buttered casserole, bake at 375 degrees for 40 mins. or so.

The most variable item on my menu is the sweet potato casserole. This year I used a recipe from Cook's Illustrated involving pre-baked sweets mixed with cream and egg yolks and topped with a streusel. Pretty good, but I'm not sure if it rates a permanent spot on the menu. Time and whether I can find the magazine next year will tell.

Dessert: somebody else's problem.

Onward to the Law and Order marathon.

Ron Weasley says, "Back to Your Knitting"

Went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire this afternoon; I must say it's my favorite of the films. Mike Newell resisted the temptation to follow the book and just gave us a good movie. However, it must be mentioned that He Who Must Not Be Named bears an alarming resemblance to Michael Jackson (come to think of it, Madame Maxime is kind of a nightmare Anna Wintour). Obligatory knitting content: there are new Gryffindor scarves (pictured left), seemingly designed by Voldemort to ensure that all good-hearted knitters go insane through the endless application of stockinette stitch.

All Hail the AntiCraft

the AntiCraft, my new favorite online magazine, has emerged from the knitting underground. Cool patterns (I'm much enamored of Bad Juju, although I'm a bit nervous about knitting him--voodoo bouncing back and all that), plus an appropriate amount of snark. The cover of issue #1 about says it all; check it out.

Fugly Free Yarn Update

It's turning into a scarf for my mother-in-law (ridiculously easy pattern here). Told you I never met a ball of yarn I didn't like. Well, I don't like it exactly, but I don't hate it. It's fuzzy and weird and the color still makes my eyeballs bleed, but it was free and I'm grateful and I think M-in-L will appreciate the bling. I do, however, come close to hating the stash yarn I'm combining it with--Lang Surprise ("Surprise, I'll squeak and split every time you make a stitch") which I don't think exists anymore, praise the yarn gods. Anyway, maybe two wrongs will make a right.

Dawn of the Knitted Dead

Just in time for Halloween--check out cakeyvoice's knitted tribute to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Slide show here.

And for those of you who'd like to add some intestines, an intrepid knitter at craftster has come up with a pattern for a Knitted Digestive System.

F.O. - Lil' Devil Baby Hat

I made Kittyville's Lil' Devil Baby hat for an expectant mother at work. Now I'm faced with a moral dilemna--I don't know her all that well...suppose she's born-again or something and thinks I'm trying to enlist her baby into Satanism?? I suppose I can always say it's a red puppy hat. Anyway, cute and easy pattern (although I ended up knitting the horns separately, stuffing with yarn ends and sewing them on rather than picking up stitches and knitting round like the pattern said. For some reason, the picking up left me flummoxed. Stash Woolease, size 7 circular.)

Stash Update

Long time no post (again), but the camera has been out of commission and a blog without pictures is like a...boring blog. Anyway. A full stash is almost as nice as a full belly. Some recent acquisitions: from Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool, which always falls conveniently close to my b'day (10/18 for those of you marking your calendars for next year). My present from my family was $100 bucks to spend, which immediately sent me into a "what should I get?" freeze. I ended up with 3 skeins of variegated worsted from Morehouse Merino (totally forgetting the coupon I had in my bag) and a copy of Melanie Falick's Handknit Holidays (which I probably could have gotten a lot cheaper online, but what the heck. It's a gorgeous book). Our weekend hosts gifted me with four skeins of Lamb's Pride in shades of pink and purple. In addition to the Rhinebeck swag, I received in the mail six skeins of amazingly soft Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud, which I won through Susan and Margene's Katrina Relief drive. So I'm feelin' flush and stricken with a bad case of startitis. The Morehouse is destined for another Multidirectional Scarf, the Lamb's Pride for some sort of big old felted bag, and the Alpaca Cloud for an Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style. However, nothing doing until I finish Sam's sweater, which I am determined to have ready for Xmas.

Multidirectional Flat Top Hat

DD modeling the Flat-Top Hat from Iris Schreier's Multidirectional Knitting, made from Noro Silk Garden Colorway 201 left over from the scarf (which used mostly Colorway 203). Used size 8 circulars although pattern calls for size 7--I've got a big ol' head (and the hat is for me--DD says it makes her look like a stoner. Whatever.) Hat took one full skein and a teeny bit of another, probably could have eeked out one skein if I'd used size 7 needles and wasted less yarn in my long-tail cast-on. It's a relatively simple pattern; I kind of fudged the top but, as always, Noro hides a multitude of sins. The hat looks a lot more impressive from above, so I'll be careful to only wear it around tall people.

Free Yarn...AAACK...MY EYES!

Today's mail brought a free ball of Bernat Disco yarn. Now, I don't want to sound ungrateful...free yarn is free yarn, y'all. But this stuff is fugly. Maybe in an endearing kind of way. It sort of reminds me of Cookie Monster. If Cookie Monster was a drag queen.

Then again, I've never met a ball of yarn I didn't like, and I'll find something to with it. Any ideas?

F.O. - Multidirectional Scarf

I finished Iris Schrier's Multidirectional Scarf (pattern available by joining knitalong). It's a fun, easy and quick knit--I used about 2 and a half skeins of Noro Silk Garden and a size 10 needle for 10 triangles total. Ended up fudging the last triangle a bit--for anyone trying this pattern, don't overthink the bindoff--you're slipping one stitch, passing that stitch over the stitch remaining on the right needle (binding off one stitch, not two). Anyway, the Noro hid my sins. Mmmm, Noro...is there anything it can't do?

Is it ok to laugh yet?

Is it ok to laugh yet? In any case, this cracked me up. Keep giving; back to knitting soon.

MD Scarf Progress

Life goes on, of course, and knitting, as ever, makes it bearable.






The Multidirectional Scarf is making swift (for me) progress, and it makes me smile a little that although it wasn't planned it matches the bowl of Mardi Gras beads my mother-in-law sent me last February. Carmen makes it into the picture because she matches Noro color 201.

Keep giving, y'all.

Katrina Relief

Please click here. Like most people, I'm thinking about New Orleans, connected to a place in a way that I haven't been since 9/11. I have no right to lay claim to the city--although my husband lived and worked there for many years and left family and friends behind when he moved to New York, I only visited a couple of times. Still, I can honestly say that New Orleans carved a permanent spot in my heart. Besides the obvious--what's not to love about a town where you can walk down the street with a cocktail in a to-go cup?--there was something about New Orleans that made in the only city I've ever seriously considered living in besides New York. Oh, heck, this article in today's New York Times says it a lot more eloquently than I ever could.

Anyway, I have no right to claim it. I remember how annoyed I used to feel when "outsiders" tried to lay claim to NYC in the wake of 9/11. Up in Washington Heights, I felt somewhat disconnected myself. I read somewhere that if you lived in Europe, they bombed the U.S., if you lived in California, they bombed New York, if you lived above 14th Street, they bombed downtown. In a strange way, the New Orleans tragedy is more real to me; at the same time, the devestation is unfathomable.

It's time to stop blathering and do something. The wonderful Margene and Susan have organized a knitter's donation drive on this blog. Give a little, or if you can, give a lot.