Yarn + Bowl

I've been looking at yarn bowls on Etsy (bowls with a hole or notch through which to feed the yarn when knitting or crocheting), but I couldn't find one I liked enough to buy. But I still wanted one. Then I realized that you don't really need a hole for a yarn bowl. I just plopped my bowl of yarn in a nice little bowl I purchased years ago at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, and I was in business without spending a cent! It works great to keep my yarn ball from rolling around when I knit.

Clockwork

A local yarn store -- Fibre Space in Old Town Alexandria -- had a Miss Babs trunk show several weeks ago. One of the samples was Clockwork, by Stephen West, knit in Sojourn. Sojourn is a very soft, heavy fingering weight cashmere & silk blend yarn. I picked skeins of navy (blue) and nori (green), but when I began knitting I saw that the contrast was far too low to show off the stripe pattern. So I sent off for some lighter green (coventry), which worked well. It's finished and blocked, and is even softer now. The pattern is basic garter stitch stripes, with slip stitch contrasting columns of stockinette stitches.

My First Yarn

Recently, I plyed and skeined my first batch of yarn that I spun on a spindle. Three small skeins, probably enough for a hat and maybe a matching cowl, plus some single laceweight left over. The top I spun was some beautiful Miss Babs dyed top -- mixed bluefaced leicester (BFL) if I remember correctly. I like the way the yarn turned out, but I clearly need more practice!

SOS #3

I finally got the third pair of Summer of Socks done. I had a severe case of Second Sock Syndrome with these, but I forced myself to finish by 9/21/11 because I wanted to be in the running for a prize by completing all three pairs within the time allotted. I wanted these to look completely different from last month's pair, even though the two patterns were very similar. As I was casting on, I knew that the dark yarn with a slight fuzz would not show off the lace pattern, but I kept on anyway. I think these will be good winter socks and will go well with all the black that I wear.

Now I can cast on something else!

Learning to Spin

I'm inbetween my two spindle spinning classes, learning to spin. The class is held at Fibre Space in Old Town Alexandria. The teacher, Antonia Bookbinder, taught herself to spin two years ago so that she could teach spinning for boys wanting a Boy Scout merit badge and has been teaching children. Sunday's class at Fibre Space was her first class for adults. Fibre Space generally keeps the class size small -- we had 5 people in the class. A book the teacher suggested is one that I already have: Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont. I purchased it when it first came out because I wanted to learn to spin, but it seemed too intimidating to teach myself. I am glad I am taking a class . . . it is easier than I thought, but I am still in the early stages, so my yarn is the thick-and-thin type made by beginners. I spin a little bit each day, in small increments, and already I am learning a lot by trying different things as I practice.A lot of people move on from the spindle to the wheel, but Abby Franquemont does a good job of arguing for the use of a spindle.

Messenger Bag

After having so much fun sewing the project bag on Monday, I spent Tuesday sewing a simple messenger bag, following tutorials I found on the internet. This one uses fabric I got at G Street Fabric for this purpose a while ago -- home dec fabric for the outside and some red batik quilting cotton for the lining. It's about 10" wide by 13" high by 3" deep -- gussetted with a 3" gusset. The strap is just a smidge narrower than the gusset -- about 2.5". This one has no pockets, etc. It closes with velcro. Now that I know how to do it, I am already planning another one -- wider than it is tall, maybe 2" deep so that it will have a narrower strap, and with pockets. This one will be fine for travel, when I want to carry my camera, folding umbrella, knitting project, hat, etc. I found a tutorial for a zippered messenger bag that I think would be a good base for the second bag.

Quilted Project Bag

Mom sent me a link to a video on Crafty Gemini showing how to make a quilted wristlet bag. I had a "20% off entire purchase" coupon from Joann's, so I went over there & bought the materials to make the bag. I was in the mood for bright color, so I used an orange border print for the outside and coordinating bright pink for the lining. I learned a lot from making it. I'm happy with the result, even though I can point out every little imperfection in it. It's useful, too -- I've got my current knitting project in it. It was a productive afternoon.

Summer of Socks #2

I've finished & blocked my second pair of SOS socks. Now off to knit some more . . . but what?

Summer of Socks #1

I've interrupted my UFO knitting to participate in Summer of Socks on Ravelry -- three pairs of socks in three months. The first pair is a cotton spiral pattern that I knitted from some Knit Picks Comfy sock cotton yarn in the Hollyberry colorway. My fist pair of cotton socks! I liked the pattern and the yarn (once I got used to it). And I wore the socks to church on Sunday; they were comfortable and I think they will wear well.

Tomorrow, the second sock starts. I already have some red Knit Picks yarn wound in a ball -- again from stash (although I have been on a yarn shopping spree lately, but that is another story).

Bag #1

I forgot until I did my shopping spree post yesterday that I never posted the bag that I made while I was at Mom's -- the bag that led to the shopping spree in the first place. So here it is, warts and all. Actually, I am pretty happy with it. I can't remember the last time I did actual sewing, as opposed to mending.

Shopping Spree at G Street Fabrics

After sewing a bag with Mom when I was home last week, I have gotten the sewing bug. And as G Street Fabrics was having a sale and I had their coupons burning a hole in my pocket, I went on a spree.

The two lavender/purple-with-green prints are quilting cotton that I plan to use for a bag like the one I made at Mom's. They are Hoffman batiks. The large print I had planned to use for a messenger bag, but it is a little lightweight, and I could not find a lining fabric that I really liked for it, so I am reconsidering that. It is a one-yarn remnant I got on the drapery fabric table. The blue print is a 1 1/2 yard remnant I got from the same table, but it is a heavier weight. The red piece next to it is quilting cotton (also Hoffman batik) that I plan to use for the lining. This'll be a messenger bag.

Finished Object #1

I finished the Mitered Cross pillow last night.

I'd purchased the pattern from Kay Gardiner (Mason-Dixon Knitting) on Ravelry. She'd created it as a benefit for the Japan earthquake and knit a blanket out of Noro yarn that was beautiful. The cream Noro that she'd used for the background was a discontinued colorway, and I wanted to start knitting right away, so I decided to use some recycled sari yarn that I had recycled from a sweater I'd gotten at a church rummage sale and yarn recycled from my first knitting project several years ago -- a wrap made of lots of different cream yarns. I liked the yarns, but the wrap was much too long and I never used it much because of that.

I did the first block quickly because I wanted to see how the pattern and combination of yarns worked out. I liked the look be decided the fabric was too heavy and not drape-y enough to be a good blanket. So I got the idea to make a pillow, which is what I did.

I finished the second block, which had been languishing, on Friday before my trip to Ocean City. I tried to sew it up but quickly realized it really needed a good blocking. So I washed and blocked it Friday night, and left it to dry while I left for Ocean City on Saturday. Yesterday, it was completely dry and I sewed it into a 16 inch pillow form last night.

I would not do this same yarn combo again. The sari yarn ran terribly when I washed the pillow pieces for blocked (the cream background is now stained a little in places) and the various cream yarns knit up at all sorts of gauges even tho' I used the same size 10 1/2 (8.5 mm) needles throughout. Thus, blocking was an absolute necessity to get square 16 inch blocks to sew together. The sari yarn also stiffened a bit in blocking -- not bad, but definitely not blanket material.

Still, I think it is a moderately successful pillow.

OC MD

All quiet on the beach on Tuesday morning . . . the view from our balcony.
Night jump Saturday night by the 101st Airborne.
Team RV -- all 10 of them.
Sunday morning on the boardwalk.
The airshow crowd on the beach on Saturday afternoon . . . the view from our balcony.

We just had a wonderful 4 days in Ocean City, Maryland. We splurged and stayed on the oceanfront and boardwalk at the Quality Inn Boardwalk at 16th Street. This turned out to be right at the airshow for the weekend, so we were able to watch the whole show from our balcony on Sunday afternoon, and caught the end of the show on Saturday afternoon. The weather was beautiful all weekend, with just one shower late on Sunday afternoon. This brought in cooler weather for Monday and Tuesday.

I'd never seen an airshow before. I was very impressed with the F-18 Super Hornet -- very fast and loud -- and the AV-83 Harrier -- which could hover amazingly. Other military aircraft included an A-10 Warthog, a C-17, and a P-51. The civilian flyers included Team RV -- billed as the largest team, with 10 airplanes -- Mike Goulian, and the Red Bull Helicopter, all of which did acrobatic flying. It was fun to see the maneuvers that I had seen Matt do with his RC plane done by piloted, full-size airplanes -- I even recognized the hammerhead before they announced it! There were also jumps by the 101st Airborne and the U.S. Navy Seals Leap Frogs, and the Red Bull Air Force.

Lots of sun, sand, walking (on the boardwalk and beach), and seafood. I hated to leave this morning, but it is good to be home.

UFOs

After the concentrated knitting on the summer mystery shawlette and the scarf and hat, I decided to look in my knitting caddy and tackle all the unfinished objects (UFOs) lurking there.

I decided to tackle first the mitered squares project -- it was meant to be a blanket, but I decided it would be better just to do a pillow (2 squares) instead. There is also a second sock of a pair, a sweater I started years ago out of Vanna's Choice yarn in a pattern I got from the Lion Brand Yarn website, a shawl that I had started, and a Baktus scarf that I chose to do in laceweight yarn. These projects all were started in a burst of enthusiasm for one reason or another, and they all feature endless garter stitch (or stockinette stitch, in the case of the sweater) . . . so it is no mystery why the enthusiasm faded as I went along.

I am going to do these in the order in which I think I might be able to finish each the fastest -- so I can get some satisfaction out of Finished Objects as quickly as possible to trick myself into keeping at it. I've been working on the Mitered Square pillow this week, and I should finish the knitting tomorrow and block it. The sock will be next, then the shawl (because when I finish the garter stitch there is a lace edging that should keep my interest going). Finally, the Vanna's Choice sweater -- which is just a boxy thing ("deconstructed cardigan" I think the Lion Brand folks called it) of endless stockinette with little shaping, and which is in a yarn I'm not particularly fond of (though I like the color well enough) and is really something I just planned to use to wear around the house to keep warm in winter. I've been working on the Baktus a little at a time when I am tired, because it is as close to mindless knitting as you can get, but if it is not done by the time I finish the shawl, I will finish it before tackling the sweater. I really am trying to avoid that thing, for some reason.

Let's see how fast I can get these things DONE.

Knit, Knit, Knit

Wendy Knits started a knit-along on a summer mystery shawl on May 17 and I decided to do it, as I'd never done a knit-along -- let alone a mystery one. The clues came out with plenty of time to knit them. Because it was a mystery, I usually knit the clues as soon as I could once they were posted, so I had time in between the clues. And because I had decided to buy new yarn for the mystery shawlette, I had some new yarn begging to be knit up. I'd gone to Fibre Space in Old Town Alexandria and gotten some Neighborhood Fiber Co. yarn for both the mystery KAL and some extra, because it was such beautiful yarn. So I also had time to knit a scarf and -- because I had so much sock yarn left over -- a matching tam while waiting for the last clue to be published on June 2. So, now I have the summer mystery shawlette, a scarf, and a tam.

Frenemies

I've been doing a lot of knitting lately, and listening to books on tape. Two I've listened to recently seem, on the surface, to be dissimilar. But closer inspection shows similarities.

The first is The Best of Friends: Martha and Me, by Mariana Pasternak. The author meets her neighbor in Westport, Connecticut -- the as-yet-unknown Martha Stewart -- and they become, as she says, "the best of friends." The author gets sucked into Martha's world of fame and fortune as Martha's sidekick. She and her family serve as props in early Martha Stewart books and television shows. She and Martha each become divorced from their spouse (the author's divorce apparently occurred in part because her husband did not approve of her friendship with Martha), and the author becomes a single mother real estate agent. She mentions several high-level real estate transactions in which she participates as a real estate agent and the very good income she derives from these transactions, but she finds it hard to keep up with Martha's lifestyle on her income. Their friendship included yearly holiday travels to various exotic locations as Egypt, Machu Picchu, and a luxury Mexican spa (where she learns of Martha's stock transaction which ultimately led to Martha's trial and imprisonment). Thus she ends up in thousands of dollars in debt to Martha for trips and renovations on her home. She also testifies at the trial, and their twenty-plus year friendship does not survive. In the end, the author is cast out of Martha's world and has only her less-glamorous life as a real estate agent.

The second is The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edward's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down, by Andrew Young. Young graduates from Wake Forest Law School but decides he does not really want to be a lawyer, so he works for the NC Trial Lawyers. There, as a thirty-something staffer, Young hears John Edwards give a speech to the trial lawyers and decided to hitch his wagon to Edwards' senatorial campaign. He believes this man could be President some day, and he wants to climb that ladder with Edwards. As a staffer in the Senator's Raleigh office, he works his way into driving the Senator when he is in NC so as to get closer to him. He grabs at the chance to move to what he perceives to be a better position in the Capitol Hill office, but after 9/11 his wife wants to move back to NC, so they do. Young describes how he makes himself the "go-to guy" for the Edwards' family -- taking care of anything and everything from buying Christmas trees to setting up campaign offices for the various Presidential races in which Edwards participates. Ultimately, he helps Edwards hide his affair with Rielle Hunter from Elizabeth, his wife. He thus falls out of Elizabeth's good graces, but John keeps him on -- for he has become the go-between between John and Rielle. Young describes how he rose to his "position of power" by never saying "no" to John Edwards, and how he ultimately felt trapped in his relationship with him as a result. He says that he could not say "no" to anything Edwards asked -- including claiming paternity for Reille Hunter's child and taking his wife and children into hiding with Hunter when the affair became public. Ultimately he, too, loses his relationship with John Edwards and, thus, his job of over ten years and his reputation.

In both books, the author spills the dirt on the celebrity "friend" -- much of it a parade of pettiness and anecdotes to show how the "real person" is not like the persona they present to the public. Both authors latched onto the celebrity and enjoyed the reflected glamour and/or power it gave them -- the chance to hobnob with other rich and famous and powerful people. Both authors could not say "no" to the celebrity but ultimately felt they had become trapped in their bond with the celebrity, and ultimately broke with the celebrity over the celebrity's criminal behavior (alleged or convicted).

There's a lot of sordid detail to wade through in both books. But each is a morality tale -- whether the author intended it or not -- on the consequences of hitching yourself to a celebrity and being so blinded by your own ambition for fame, wealth, power, etc. that you end up never saying "no" and doing things you can easily regret doing. In the end, each author is left worse than he or she started.

Gifts

The whole vacation was a gift.

Two bottles of red wine from John.

The kindle and cover from Patricia, John, Caroline, Ryan, and Michael.

The quilt from Mom.

The serving dish from Patricia.

The trip to the beach last week was a gift. But in addition, Mom gave me the quilt she had made last year. Patricia, John, Caroline & Ryan, and Michael gave me a kindle with a blue cover ("my color" when I was a child). Patricia also gave me a Duke chip 'n dip dish. John also gave me two bottles of red wine -- one from NC and one a very good French vintage. So, lots of wonderful gifts from my family to celebrate my retirement.

At the Beach

Theresa heading back to the house from the beach. The view from the family room. 6 Cowrie Lane -- "Our House" for the week. A long and wonderful spring week at the beach -- complete with unseasonably cold weather, gray and rainy days and two beautifully sunny ones, a low of 6 people in the house (me, Mom, Kathy, Theresa, Chris, and Steve -- after Mike left on Tuesday) to a high of 17 (add Patricia and John, Anne and Jim, Eileen and Harold, Michael, Jimmy, Bradley, Justin, and Alana beginning on Thursday), and lots of walks on the beach. Our house at 6 Cowrie Lane in Wrightsville Beach, NC, was perfect for such a large family gathering to celebrate my retirement Four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs for the adults and two bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs for the young people and overflow adults, family rooms upstairs and down, and televisions in every bedroom and family room. We had wonderful home-cooked meals -- we all especially loved Jim's seafood and pasta on Friday night, with leftovers and more shrimp on Saturday night. We also had some memorable southern meals during the week -- barbeque and fried chicken plates at Jackson's Big Oak Barbeque on Kerr Avenue in Wilmington (a tip from our cashier at Wal*Mart on Monday) and southern-style fried fish on Wednesday at Something Fishy on College Avenue (a tip from our Jackson's waitress). Walking Kathy's kite on the beach. Blowing bubbles from the top deck of the house into the wind. Hours spent watching the daring Herman the Hermit Crab, found by John on the beach. And a game of miniature golf -- 5 adults versus 5 boys -- on Saturday afternoon. How did we manage to end up with a tied score so no one had bragging rights? It was sad to pack up and leave early on Sunday morning, but I was glad Patricia & John, Harold & Eileen, and Anne & Jim let me leave a bit earlier than they did, while they were still packing their cars. Everyone had to be out by 10:00 a.m., but I was on the road by 8:30 and home by 2:30 in the afternoon -- glad to be out of the traffic on I-95. Thanks to everyone, it was a wonderful, memorable week at the beach.

No-Knead Bread

I missed this 2006 craze while I was working, but after Mark Bittman ceased his Minimalist column in the NY Times recently, he published a list of 25 recipes from the column and this was among them. This is my third attempt, and I am glad I persisted in trying this recipe.

First time: I used all-purpose flour and the measurements (e.g., 3 cups of flour) from the Minimalist column. Bittman stressed that it should be wet dough, but this was more like batter and even after nearly a day of letting it rise, it had not gotten any more solid, so I threw it out and began again.

Second attempt: I used all-purpose flour and the weights and measures (e.g., 350 grams water) from a Bittman follow-up to the original column, which I found online. This worked out better, in that it was actually bake-able, but the dough was still very wet and spread out quite a bit, making the loaf not very high. The crust was very, very crisp and the inside had lovely holes and was moist. This encouraged me to try a third time.

Third time is the charm. By this time I had gotten Jim Lahey's book, My Bread, from the library and had purchased some King Arthur's bread flour. I used the weights and measures from the book, which differed from those given by Mark Bittman. The crust was not as thick as the previous loaf, but still crispy, and the inside was moist, although the holes were not quite as prominant as the last loaf.

When I took it out of the oven, the loaf "sang" with a crackling sound that Lahey described in his book and I could understand how bread had enchanted him. I was amazed by the beautiful crust, although I did not dare to go for the deep chestnut color he encourages us to go for in his book.

The book is wonderful, with the inspirational story of how he came to bake bread and open the Sullivan Street Bakery in NYC, a detailed recipe (with pictures!)for the no-knead bread and several variations on the basic recipe, and additional recipes for pizza and focaccia dough, sandwich fixin's and sandwiches, and dishes using stale bread. I might have to buy this book. I plan to keep baking this bread every other day or so until it becomes second nature. I tried the recipe for pancetta, mango, and basil sandwich (with a store-bought roll) for lunch today, and it was very good, too.

I went to NYC and . . .

had a lot of fun, even though it was frigid, and Duke lost to St. John's 93-78. They were down by 21 at the half and never came close during the second half -- only some 3s near the end made the score look closer than the game really was. Painful to watch -- the shots were not falling for Duke most of the game, and although there were a few moments of good defense during the second half, defense was also non-existent for most of the game. But I do like watching basketball in Madison Square Garden -- even high up, the seats are not bad.

We stayed at the Affinia right across from MSG and Penn Station -- so convenient! And we had a one-bedroom suite (room 1919) with a kitchenette and a great view.

Sadly, our favorite close-by restaurant -- Ginger House on Seventh Avenue -- was shuttered, and we do not know if it is going to re-open or if it is closed for good. So we ate next door at Triple Crown -- had a very nice meal of a "daily special" beef stew topped with mashed potatoes for me and a club sandwich for Jeff on Saturday night, but a very mediocre meal of chicken cordon bleu for Jeff and a "daily special" corned beef & pastrami sandwich and broccoli cheddar soup for me on Sunday. So I don't know whether Triple Crown will replace Ginger House in our affections or not.

Still, we managed to have a very nice trip up and back sandwiched between winter storms last week and this week, and got to see Duke play in MSG, even if they did lose horribly.