Yesterdays Mets game was lots of fun! Didn't spark Ryan's interest in baseball per se, but he enjoyed himself and seemed willing to go back someday, as long as it's not a regular thing. Fine by me! Free tix make it more fun, of course. It was super hot and sweaty, but I only got a little sunburnt, and considering I had only managed to put sunscreen on my arms and shoulders, forgetting my legs, I feel lucky. I don't want to be too redundant, so check out ryanimator for a pic of us at the game.

I did make it up to the Yarn Co. on Saturday and picked up two more balls of the Topas in green (they were all out of the orange). I think what I am going to do is keep the bottom striped and just work the top in solid green. Should be OK, and I think that is probably the color that looks better next to my face anyway. Now there's just the doubt over whether this is too wide. I made the pattern smaller by an inch, but it is still a good bit wider than the last tank I made. Then again, this yarn might be nicer a bit looser. Or it might not. Well, the worst that happens is I frog, frog again. Hopefully by tomorrow's Stitch-n-Bitch I'll have figured out exactly where I want to start the green. Jordana, at the Yarn Co., said start it around the armholes, but I'm not sure. Might be nicer to start it a bit lower, kind of where an Empire waist would be. Decisions, decisions!

Just 3 more days of work until vacation. We leave Friday evening. I can't believe after all these months of planning, it's almost upon us!

There is definitely something wrong with waking up earlier on the weekend than I do during the week. But there I was at 6:30, wide awake. Well, too awake to go back to sleep, but too tired to feel great about it. What is up?! I have very little trouble falling asleep, I just can't stay asleep!

Anyway, at least I used my time pretty wisely. Got to the greenmarket early, since one of the things I wanted to do today was make some preserves. I got strawberries and rhubarb - guess what kind of jam I made? Just finished that up and it's cooling on the counter. Yes, it is possible to make jam in a 4' x 4' kitchen. It's not pretty, but it's possible.

What is pretty are the flowers I bought. Couldn't resist the "last of the season!" sign next to the peonies, so I got a bunch of those and also a bunch of yarrow. I think they look purdy together, what do you think?



I also stopped at my always-favorite, Ronnybrook Farms, and picked up a good combination - a quart of nonfat maple-vanilla yogurt and a pint of butter pecan ice cream. That's twice as much nonfat yogurt as ice cream, so I'll probably lose weight, right?

The bad news is I called The Yarn Company and they don't have any more orange Topas. They put aside a few balls of green, though, and now I have to go up there a little later. I guess something's getting partially frogged, and probably the top will be wider stripes of green than orange. Argh. I am having the sneaking suspicion that this tank is going to be a bit bigger than I want it to be, too, which may be why I am so short of yarn. Grr. What to do, what to do. Probably what to do would have been to be more careful and think more before I started. Oh well, it wouldn't be such a pain if the store wasn't in one of the least convenient places in the city to get to from my apartment.

Speaking of my apartment, before I can go up to the yarn store I have to finish cleaning up the kitchen and stuff. Hasta la vista!

Ack. I am nearly done with the back of the melon tank and I am realizing I have less yarn than I thought I did. And of course since it was on sale, the Yarn Company's website shows them being sold out of the orange (I could call tomorrow to doublecheck, but I'm not very hopeful.) I'm not quite sure I've got enough to finish both sides - it's going to be close. Maybe I should do the back in a deep "V" like the Ginger tank? Would that result in using less yarn? Seems like it ought to. Let me know what you think. On the up side, I figured out the stripe issue pretty well and it should be AOK when I get to the top of this side. Also on the up side, I don't need extra yarn for the armhole edgings, as I've been doing them using the same slip stitch method that my Rowan sweaters have used - I like the way it looks.

Salena and I had great fun at lunch. We stopped into Conway (kind of a low-rent K-mart) for some cheap flip-flops, and I found the most adorable slides! Faux wood sole (squishy foam, actually) with a translucent band across the instep with a little bunch of plastic fruit on it! For seven bucks, I have funky Carmen Miranda shoes! I also grabbed a cute peasant-style top in white gauze with blue embroidery and 3/4 sleeves. I've been wanting something like that but couldn't deal with buying such a flimsy and trendy item at a high price. For 9 bucks, of course, I was perfectly willing.

I love going into cheesy stores (messy racks, bins of stuff to dig through) and finding cute stuff! The peasant top is probably made in the same Indian factory as all the other ones I've seen for 40 bucks and way up. And I'll probably end up wearing it with $150 pants I got on sale at Barney's for 30 bucks. Yes, I am little-miss-bargain-finder and proud of it!

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone! Go outside at noon today and check out how short your shadow is. Or just kick back somewhere with a cool iced tea and enjoy the glory of my favorite season.

I, on the other hand, will be here at work. All by my lonesome. My boss, and the other two writers in my group all have the day off, so I'm running the show. Fortunately, there is very little to run. I do need to work up a draft of a little brochure on healthy eating to review on Monday, but it's not a big deal. And there may be something I have to read and sign-off on later, but all in all it should be a quiet day. My friend Salena and I agreed that since we're about the only two here from our project teams, we're going to have a nice relaxing lunch somewhere.

I have the promised photo of the melon tank in progress. Despite what I said yesterday, I seem to just be plugging away with 2" stripes. If it bites me in the butt at the end, I'll be a sad frogger, but I'm hoping it won't happen.



I wonder if I'll manage to finish this up before we leave next Friday? I guess it depends what else I am doing in the meantime. I read somewhere (can't recall if it was the Knitlist or the Knitblogs list) that Continental is still not allowing knitting paraphernalia on their flights, so I suppose I will not try and push the envelope. It's an overnight flight anyway, so hopefully I will catch a little shuteye. If not, I do know how to read, and I have many NY Times Magazine crossword puzzles that could keep me occupied for quite a while. Still, it'd be so nice to while away the flight time in a relaxed, knitty manner. Damn the people who have brought so many changes, large and small, to our formerly peaceful existence.

I'm not just talking about knitting on planes here. It used to be that when I went away, my biggest worry was that my cat would be lonely. Even with people coming in to visit daily, she likes to sleep with me and I'd always feel awful leaving her like that. But now, the worry is bigger and has actually led me to change my usual procedure. Instead of leaving her home and having people come in, my parents are going to come pick her up and take her to their house for the two weeks.

This change of plans is partly because it is a longer trip than usual, and partly because of all the fear of another terror attack coming over the Independence Day weekend. I realized that (a) if anything happened to her directly or (b) anything indirectly kept other people from coming to look in on her, I would feel so awful, guilty, and terribly sad. So, the lesser of two evils is shipping her off to "grandma" for a bit. I'm sure she will terrorize Mom's cat, Kiwi, to some extent. Mom, I apologize in advance!

I forgot to take a picture of my melon tank in progress. I'm about 5" into it, and trying to decide what to do with the stripes. The first two are just about 2" wide, and I was going to do that all the way up, but then it occurred to me that if I get to the last stripe and don't have the space to do 2", it is going to look really weird. So now I'm thinking maybe my stripes will get progressively narrower towards the top. Or maybe I'll start going sort of "random" - except that I would have to keep careful track, since I want the back to match the front exactly. What do you think?

On my way back from getting the sunglasses (love them!) I discovered there is a greenmarket about 10 blocks from my office and Ronnybrook Farm, some of my favorite people in the world, have a table there on Wednesdays! They're thinking about Fridays, too. Could I be happier? No, not really, because I am eating their tapioca pudding for the first time and I think I may start making sounds one just shouldn't make eating lunch at her desk. Yummmmmm!

I can't believe I almost forgot to mention this. Last night at Cafe Des Moines, they were playing Dolly Parton. Over and over and over. I'm talking at least two hours worth. And as we were leaving, they played "Islands in the Stream" (her duet with Kenny Rogers) four times in a row. Marney, Debbie and I all walked out of there singing it. I don't know if it was the 5:45 wake-up, the Dolly music, or if they were even funnier than usual, but somehow I found everything those two chicas said last night utterly hilarious. Particularly Debbie telling us she had "salmon teri-yukky" for lunch that day. I almost can't wait to have some bad Japanese food so I can use that line at the table! Thanks, ladies, for giving me so many good giggles last night!

Another sleepy morning. Not much new there. For some reason I just am not sleeping well lately, and I keep waking up way too early. Today wasn't as bad as yesterday's 5:45 a.m. wakeup, but I still wouldn't mind actually sleeping until my alarm goes off. It's not as though I am waking up because my body's done sleeping - I just wake up and am still tired. Grr.

I seem to have conquered the wandering gauge problem with the Topas yarn. At Stitch-n-Bitch last night I managed to get it to 5 stitches per inch on a #6 needle, and the swatch looked nice enough to start on Bonne Marie's Boat Neck Shell. I'm doing it in stripes of the green and canteloupe, approximately 2" in width. I'm keeping careful track of how many rows I do in each color, so that I can reproduce it exactly and match up the stripes when I finish. Let's hope it works. I'm just a few rows into the second stripe, and the colors look so pretty together! I'll take a picture tonight.

Going to pick up my new sunglasses at lunchtime today. Yoon totally hooked me up, vision-wise. When I saw her 2 weeks ago, I got a year's supply of (2-week disposable) contacts at cost (100 bucks), plus there's a $30 rebate on them. And I got really great prescription sunglasses - cool purple-y Calvin Klein plastic frames (with big sidepieces to block out the sun from my delicate little eyes) with polarized lenses and anti-scratch coating for 95 bucks. The frames alone list for around $200, without the prescription lenses, so this is obviously a fantastic deal! I love having prescription sunglasses, and haven't had a pair in years. They are so much better than the little sunglass clips that go on regular glasses.

I also want a new pair of non-prescription sunglasses, since the ones I have are like 5 years old and scratched. Now that I am wearing my contacts at least as often as my glasses, it's kind of important. I wanted these Persol glasses (#2607) I saw at Sunglass Hut, but they were $140 bucks there. I found them online (obviously) for much less - $90, but when I ordered, the guy called and said they would have to ship them from Italy and it would take 5 weeks. At the time, my trip was 6 weeks away, so I told him I'd be in Italy soon, and he told me I could get them even cheaper there. So, hopefully some nice shades will be one souvenir of this trip.

Well, it's certainly not sparkling clean in here, but I did make good headway last night. That included a ton of handwashing that I had been putting off for a while. Smells a bit like wet dog in my bathroom now, from the mix of silk, cashmere and merino knits. Mmmm, wet dog.

What am I doing up this early? This is nothing! It was 5:45 a.m. when my brain decided to wake up. Once the brain's up, the body reluctantly follows, so there I was. I tried to get back to sleep for about 20 minutes, but that wasn't happening, so I hauled my butt out of bed and have been mostly surfing since then. Trying to sort out what sort of gift knitting I am going to be doing over the next several months. Although I am awake, I am pretty fuzzy-headed, so I really can't say I've gotten all that much done.

Ordered some yummy Indian food for dinner last night and I can't wait to have the leftovers tonight! I am hoping to make this one of those rare nights when I have dinner BEFORE I go to Stitch-n-Bitch. If I don't eat beforehand, I end up starving at 10 p.m. with nothing to eat and no motivation to either make something or even order anything delivered. I'm excited to go to S-n-B tonight, since I have missed the past two weeks. After waking up so early, I suspect I will not stay too late tonight. I also have my friend Diana coming over tonight. She has some sort of after-work plans in the city tonight and asked if she could stay here instead of going back to Long Island tonight. I really don't like having people stay over during the week (excluding my sweetie, of course!) but I said yes. She's going to be taking care of my little kitty during a good portion of my vacation, so I figured I'd be nice.

After I got tired of cleaning I got about 5 more rows done on the Moo baby blanket.



I am wondering whether there's something funky in the directions here. It calls for straight stockinette stitch the whole way through, with no edging or anything to stop it from rolling. And boy is it rolling. I gave it a quick press with the iron for the picture below, but is blocking really going to get this to stay (relatively) flat? It's Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, and other than the rolling, I am absolutely loving the yarn - so soft and yummy! But am I going to end up having to add a crocheted edge at the end to keep it from rolling? I don't know if I'd even have enough yarn for that. I thought I had ordered an extra ball of each color, but somehow I didn't.

Tonight I must clean up my apartment. The past three weeks have been so busy and I have been home so little, that the place has gotten scary. I know I just need a couple of hours to put everything right. It's not that anything is dirty - I have been cleaning the kitchen and bathroom regularly - it's all the clutter. Clothes that didn't make it back to either laundry basket or hanger. Mail and newspapers I can't discard yet but haven't had time to read. Yarn. The down comforter that is off the bed and packed into a vacuum-sealed bag, but sitting against the wall looking for a place to spend the summer. You can imagine, I'm sure.

So, I am going to ignore the siren song of the yarn tonight and get my place in order. I get so grumpy when it's messy, so this will improve life in general for me and those around me. Hehe. Then tomorrow I can wake up relaxed and happy, and go to Stitch-n-Bitch with a clear conscience. Yay!

I can't believe there are only 11 days left until we leave for Europe. Yikes!! I'll have to post a general itinerary sometime in the next few days.

I survived the weekend of many plans! Hallelujah! It has been pretty hectic. First was Leslie's birthday party in Connecticut on Saturday, which featured a mini carnival with human bowling, jousting (Ryan almost won the grand prize!) and various other party games. There are lots of pics to be downloaded soon.

Saturday night we went to a fun party at Mark's. Mark and Ryan went to Cornell together, and now Mark works at Blue Sky, which is someplace Ryan might want to work at once he finishes his Masters. The party was mostly on the roof of Mark's building, and pretty fun. Got to meet some of the guys who worked on Ice Age and hear some interesting stories about all that. They seem like a pretty cool bunch of computer geeks. ;-)

Today we went back out to my parents' and took Dad out to lunch and then to the Aquarium out in Riverhead. We got stuck in traffic from an accident along the way, so we didn't have all that much time to spend there, which was sort of a bummer. But the place wasn't all that huge, so we did get to see probably 80 percent of it, just not in a lot of depth. Then again, there wasn't a lot of depth - it was irritating to me that most of the tanks didn't include descriptions of what was inside. Lots of neat Atlantis-themed stuff, though. Worth the trip, though not so much the sitting in traffic part of the trip!

Jackie joined us for the last event of the weekend at the Remote Lounge, which was showing the video work that Ryan and his classmates did this year. His video, "The Grudge" was very well-received! Laughter in all the right places. Yay Ryan! After watching that and a few others, we got more interested in playing with the webcams and video screens and spying on people in other parts of the bar. Apparently, others were spying on us, too. See if you can find us! (Hint - we're mostly on Channel 6). For a while, we (or at least certain parts of us) were quite popular, it appears! [Note added later - you can see a selection of pics on Jackie's blog, too.]

Knitting? Oh yeah, I did a few rows on the Rowan purse on the train. Not much else. Way too busy for that this weekend!

How lucky am I that both my primary care physician and my gynecologist are both located near yarn stores? After my physical this morning (everything looks fine, thank you for asking) I was able to walk just 2 blocks to The Woolgathering on E. 84th Street and picked up the yarn bobbins I need. I looked at all the pretty yarns they had (nothing I hadn't seen before really) and petted some nice baby alpaca, but I didn't buy any fiber. I have plenty at home waiting for projects, and I am sure I will end up finding some in France and/or Italy. (Ryan already said he won't try and stop me!)

I did actually pick up the Spring/Summer issue of Family Circle Easy Knits because I fell in love with the whale baby blanket on page 57. Can't find a photo online, but I'll try to remember to scan it later when I am at home. There are also a few cute tops in there that look like quick and easy knits (well, duh, "easy" is in the title!)

Ryan just IMed me with great news - we are going to go on a balloon flight when we're in France! I am very excited, as I have always wanted to do that! His Dad asked him to check into it and make reservations. Cool!

Last night I got tired of futzing with the Topas yarn, so instead I decided to start the Moo blanket. Even though Jill's baby won't be born until October, I figured this blanket could take a while and why not be prepared? I got maybe 12 rows into it (113 stitches across) before I got to the point of needing more yarn bobbins. I thought I had more than I did. There are only two colors, but because of the cow spots, the color changes a bunch of times in each row. So far I am being very diligent about weaving in my ends as I go along, because I know this will be a giant monkey on my back at the end if I don't! It's hard to see much in this photo, because it's curling so much at the moment, but here's the progress so far - you can see the photo from the pattern book, too:



The Mission Falls 1824 Cotton I'm using for this (it's their pattern, too) is really nice to work with. It's so soft! And at 4 stitches per inch, it knits up relatively quickly for baby stuff. I can't wait to get further on this blankie - it's just going to be so cute!

I also started working on the little purse kit that came with my Rowan International membership. I wish I had gotten the colors in the photo, but instead I have brown and peach. Not the combination I'd have picked, but they look OK together, and I wanted to have something to work on in the waiting room at the doctor's office this morning! I'm just going for a physical - no big deal. After working on this cholesterol-lowering drug for a few months, I really feel like I need to get my cholesterol checked! It's always been good, but now I'm all paranoid. :-)

This Topas yarn is starting to really irk me. I love the way it feels and looks, but I can't get a consistent gauge with it. I was getting 5 stitches per inch, so I figured I could do Bonne Marie's boat neck shell. I scaled the pattern back a bit to make the size work, and I cast on, starting with a garter stitch edge. Humongous! OK, frog those few rows, swatch again. Now it's just about 4 stitches per inch with garter stitch, 4.5 with stockinette. That's on #6 needles. I don't have any 5s, so I'm at a bit of a standstill. The fabric looks OK at this gauge, but now I have to re-think the pattern. Either use something different, or whip out the calculator and do some more math. I think I got spoiled working on that Summer Tweed stuff, since I was actually using patterns made for that yarn - a first! I actually like this halter pattern that the Yarn Company has on their site, but I'm at a loss as to how to obtain the thing and I kind of don't feel like buying it when it would be easy enough to figure it out on my own. I'm just being lazy and cranky, maybe because it's hot.

Busy day here, not much time to blog. And I can't make it to Stitch-n-Bitch tonight because my Mom and Dad came into town for the day (her real birthday is today) and want to go to dinner. At the Seaport. I'm sure it will be fun, it's just that right now I am feeling swamped.

If you want a chuckle, check out South Park Betsy & Ryan. :-)

U.S. Arrests American Accused of Planning 'Dirty Bomb' Attack. This really did nothing to improve my mood today.

How irritating - I decided to post directly into blogger (usually I write my posts in a word doc and cut & paste it) and of course it loses the post. Grr.

Well, what I said was that Mom loved her sweater, and it looked really nice on her, as you can see for yourself.



I'm not very chatty today. Work is looking like it's going to get busy, which is a good thing, since I have had many dull days lately. And in general I just have a lot spinning through my head and haven't had a lot of time to focus on it lately. Been doing lots of fun stuff, but right now I feel like I need to do something a little deeper. I might spend some time writing (not blog writing) tonight. I've been itching to get some things down on "paper," and some quiet hours tonight would be a good start.

Of course there's always my apartment to clean, or knitting to do. But at some point, I need to put that stuff aside if I am going to get anything else done. Lately I feel like I've become a bit one-dimensional, and I'm not liking it so much. Time for a little bit of change - nothing drastic, just need to bring some neglected pursuits back to the priority list.

I had interesting (to me, at least) bus experiences both yesterday afternoon and this morning. Yesterday's was actually very irritating, but funny in retrospect. I was on a packed uptown bus, headed to the eye doctor. My rather stuffed tote bag was on my shoulder, and I was leaning against the side of the bus, when this very large-breasted (this matters, I tell you) heavy woman starts shoving her way past me. She was squishing me, and I was really grossed out by having some lady's boobs smashed up on me like that, so I tried to get her to stop so I could move my bag and make more room.

"Wait, wait a sec," I said, and her reply, in a serious Brooklyn accent and dripping with nastiness was "Oh yeah, I'm gonna wait fuh you?" as she plowed past me. I turned to her and said "I asked you to wait because I was going to move my bag and make it easier for you to get through" to which she replied "oh yeah, shoa you wuh" as if I had intentionally made this whole thing difficult for her, when really what made it difficult was partly her size and mostly her rudeness. Somehow this experience irked me enough to glare at her occasionally for the next ten blocks, and then turn to her and cheerily call out "Bye, nasty!" in a sing-song voice as I got off the bus at 56th Street. Then it occured to me that she might actually chase me, and I was a little nervous until the bus pulled away. :-)

I'm not usually obnoxious, but she just really got to me!

This morning was not confrontational, just odd. Around 29th Street, a fireman got on the bus. A fireman in full fire gear, with the helmet, coat and boots, carrying his shoes. Not your normal rush-hour sight! He didn't look or smell like he'd been at a fire, so I wonder if perhaps he was doing the "walk of shame"? But who hooks up at a fire?! An amusing bit of speculation for a Friday morning.

The office is quiet today. We have "Summer Fridays" which means everyone gets to pick 6 Fridays and have those days off. I haven't had one yet (next week is my first) but today seems to be a very popular Friday, as almost everyone I work with is gone. Oh darn. ;-)

If you've made it this far, here's your reward: A Finished Object! All that's left on Mom's sweater is to sew in my little "Betsy made this just for me!" custom label in the back. Click on the photo for a larger version that shows the sparkly bits much more clearly.



And one last note - I've convinced Ryan to start a blog! For those of you who don't know, Ryan is hard at work on his Masters degree in 3D Animation, and this summer he's starting his thesis project (he graduates next Spring.) The project is a short animated film, and if you're so inclined, you can read the ryanimator blog and learn all about it. I expect there will be very little knitting content on his blog. Unless I knit something for the blogger. :-)

Re-knit that bit on the second sleeve and set it in last night. Now I just have to sew the sleeve and side seams, and Mom's sweater will be done in time for her birthday. Yay me! I just hope she likes it.

Still thinking about the melon tank I want to make and how I want to make it. I have been very scattered lately, with so many plans, that I haven't really devoted a lot of thought to any particular project. I'm sort of feeling like my life is getting away from me just a bit. And there's no end in sight to the busy-ness. This weekend we're out to Long Island for Mom's birthday. Next weekend we have a friend's 30th birthday party in Connecticut on Saturday, and Father's Day back on Long Island on Sunday. Then there's one weekend left before we go to Europe. Eek!

Tonight I am going to the eye doctor. I'm looking forward to it, because she (Yoon) is a friend - not a close friend that I hang out with on my own, but a close friend of my good friend Wendy, and Yoon and I always get along well when we see each other. It'll be nice to have a real eye doctor I can trust, as opposed to hoping the guy at the eyeglasss store actually knows what he is doing. The progression of my myopia (nearsightedness) seems to have slowed considerably in the past 5-8 years, which is a plus. But I am still pretty much useless for anything but sleep or quiet meditatin without glasses or contact lenses. I have friends who are very happy after laser surgery, but I am stll chicken.

Hoping to make it to the Calvin Klein sample sale after my appointment. It's right near Yoon's office, so if I can get out of there quickly enough (my appointment is at 5:30) I may be able to do it. There's also (pay attention, Deb!) a J. Crew sample sale (listed on that same page) that I would love to hit. Damn, I was right across the street from there yesterday but didn't know about it. How vexing!

After running like a madwoman (mostly for fun stuff, but fun is still exhausting) for over a week, something had to give last night, so I didn't go to Stitch-n-Bitch. I felt bad and knew I'd miss everyone, but when I walked in the door after work, the cat box was stinky, the dishes were piling up, there was nothing decent to eat, and I just felt totally fried. So I went to the supermarket and the pet store, and took care of some household business. It's still not nearly clean and pristine, but kitty and I are certainly much happier.

Later in the evening I had to perform a bit of corrective surgery on Mom's sweater. You may recall the first time I knit the sleeve, it was huge, so I frogged, decreased the number of stitches, and re-knit it. Much better, but then the sleeve was a bit too short to fit nicely into the armhole. Duh. So I frogged a few inches and increased a bit more frequently at the top until I had the amount of stitches specified in the pattern, and set in the first sleeve. Worked like a charm, and really didn't take too long. I will do the same on the other sleeve tonight, and should be AOK for finishing this by Saturday, when I see Mom for her birthday. It's a tiny bit of a pain to frog the cast-off sleeve, but it's a good lesson learned and I had plenty of time to fix it. Yay!

Now that I did that, I am feeling adventurous and trying to decide what to do with the pretty Topas yarn. I know it will be a tank using both colors, but I am not sure what I want it to look like. It'll be some sort of stripes, but I am debating whether I want them to be even stripes, irregular "random" stripes, zig-zaggy stripes, or maybe stockinette in one color and some sort of lace pattern in the other. Or something completely different. I will be looking around for inspiration over the next few days, I expect.

How sad, it's not my birthday anymore! But I had such a wonderful birthday. Thanks so much for all the happy wishes, everybody - they helped make my day even more fun. I even got an e-card from the dangerous one herself, somewhere on the road in America!

Between the gifts, expensive meals and flowers, Ryan spoiled my butt off. I told him now he can't spend any more money on me until we go away, since he isn't working right now. I really can't believe how over the top he went this year, and how nicely he planned everything. Now I can't wait until November when I get to do it for him. Well, actually, it's cold in November, so I can wait - but you know what I mean.

I haven't knit a stitch since Saturday! And tonight is Stitch-n-Bitch but I am not sure what I am going to be stitching. I bought some really pretty yarn with Marney and Jackie on Saturday. It's called Topas and I got it in orange and green. Unfortunately, the swatches don't do the colors justice - think canteloupe and honeydew melon together on a plate. I want to make a tank out of it, but I don't know what pattern I am going to use. I'm thinking of just kind of making my own, which isn't really a good project for Stitch-n-Bitch since it requres actual thought. I'm also really tired, so I am not going to stay there late, and I mean it this time! I think I want to be out of there by 9.

Other than that, can't think of what's new to tell, so I think I'd better do some work!

Happy Birthday to me! Today's the official day, but much of the celebrating happened yesterday. My parents took us to brunch, then I was showered with presents back at my place. I did really well this year, too. Mom and Dad paid for my new cellphone and my Rowan subscription, then Dad indulged two of my obsessions with a great knitting video and a floral arranging book. Mom also got me some pretty jewelry (pearls for my June birthday) and silly cute socks.

My sweetie got most of the books on my Amazon wishlist, plus a bunch of other great stuff, then he took me out for a surprise evening out. First we went to a Flamenco show at the New Victory Theater, and then we had the most amazing 7-course tasting menu at Patria. Today we have lunch (he won't say where yet) and there's apparently another present that was shipped all the way from Hong Kong, which is waiting at the Brooklyn Heights post office. Neat!

OK, I am freely admitting to being extremely spoiled on this particular birthday. I won't complain. Up until around March, the past year was a really difficult one for me, both professionally and personally. Things most definitely were not going my way, so if the universe (and my loved ones!) want to send a little extra fun my way this birthday, I am not going to argue or feel guilty for it!

Before all the celebrating began, Saturday was really fun, too. Our knitbloggers lunch was really fun, and the food at Gus's Place was really good! Here's a photo of our happy group (left to right: Marney, Shetha, me, Jackie, Susan):



Well, that's about it. Gotta go get lazy and more spoiled!

Didn't have time to blog at all yesterday - it was busy busy at work, for a change. On my way out in a few. Shetha's in town, and Jackie, Marney and I are going to lunch with her. I am going to remember to bring my camera, so hopefully there will be decent photos later today.

Thanks to all for the very nice comments and compliments yesterday. I get all giddy when I see so many! And to answer a question - no, I'm not going back to the baby blocks right now. That will have to wait until someone very special is having a baby. (Hell, it might want until it's ME, those suckers are going to take so long!) First I am going to sew up Mom's sweater, and then there are plenty of things to choose from: booties to go with brand-new Lily's strawberry cap; the Rowan "Flame" tank with some alterations to suit the sparkly black "No Smoking" (I kid you not about the name) yarn; possibly another Rowan tank for Leanne's birthday (July 7, but we'll be away until a week alter); the cute purse kit (which didn't come in colors as cute as shown, but I still like better than the cushion they used to have) that came with my brand-new Rowan International membership - the possibilities are endless!

One more thing - is anyone using the "Bloggar" program and having trouble publishing? I keep getting an error that the posting went fine but it couldn't publish.

OK, I am so excited about finishing Ginger that I don't even are that I look kinda scary in the pics below! Given the trouble I had with the back length at first, I am really pleased with the way this came out. Can't wait to wear it out somewhere, maybe with it's friend, the cardigan!

Well, I think the re-knitting of the bottom of the tank and the haircut were successful!

I finished the tank last night before the haircut, and when I tried it on (without sewing up the seams of course) it seemed just right. Hallelujah! Tonight will the true test, blocking and sewing, but I am pretty suire it's going to go OK.

And the haircut went equally well. I love the salon, and the guy who cut my hair was really good. He told me I could pretty much wear my hair any length I wanted, so he'd be happy to help me grow it out. And he complimented the color, which I do myself. Said it was just right for me. Always nice to hear. He ended up just kind of taking out some of the bulky spots which were growing in because of the curl, and just for fun he blew it straight and showed me how to do so. I was pleased, because I kind of wanted the option to be lazy and go curly, or put a little effort in and have a sleeker look. So, here's how I looked when I got home:



I really liked it, and Ryan nearly lost his mind - couldn't stop staring all through dinner. I joked that he must feel like he's cheating because it's such a different look. He also took this picture of me and my little kitty that I can't resist sharing, since she's so cute.



This morning I got up a few minutes early so I could try my hand at recreating the straight look, and still have time to soak my head and go curly if I failed. I must say, I didn't do so badly! Especially considering I had to actually buy a round brush last night for the first time in a hundred years. Between the short hair and the curly hair, I haven't owned one of those in ages! It didn't come out exactly as straight as he did it, but it's pretty good if I do say so myself.

If you've made it this far, you've probably heard all you want to about my hairy adventures. So I will leave you and bid you good day!

Had to post again because I just came across something too useful not to mention! Jennifer has described an incredibly simple way to keep track of cable rows and the rows in between increases and decreases (are you listening, Jackie?) without buying anything. Check out her blog for the details. I can hardly wait to start doing this.

Quite a lot of drama on my end at last night's Stitch-n-Bitch! I finished the back of my tank, bound off the shoulders together, and discovered a deadly mistake - the back was several inches shorter than the front. Argh! I think I committed a cardinal sin - I followed the pattern closely but stupidly forgot to make sure the back and front were the same length (regardless of what the !@#$# pattern said to do) before starting the armholes. The length from the armholes up was AOK, but from there down, not so much.

Before I could frog or cry, Debbie (a.k.a. Stitch Doctor) saved the night! She astutely realized that since I was knitting in stockinette, I could actually pick up stitches a row or two into the bottom, unravel the cast-on edge, and knit down from there. She did the picking-up, I did the unraveling, and though it was a bit tedious, it was far less so than frogging the whole side of the sweater!

Now I am knitting down from the bottom and it's amazing - absolutely seamless. Debbie, you are my savior! I knit a couple of rows this morning before my shower, and a few more on the bus. I should be able to finish it off tonight or tomorrow, depending on plans. Hopefully the waist shaping won't be a problem. I'm banking on that. Will let you all know how it goes.

The other drama last night was saying goodbye to Carolyn! The inimitable Ms. Chunky was in fabulous form, and even brought her camera to document the occasion. Check out the pics on her site! The third one down is me happily knitting away at the last bits of my tank strap, blissfully unaware of the danger to come, with Debbie sitting next to me, equally ignorant of the fact that she would soon be pressed into service as the Stitch Doctor! Boy is my hair floofy. Which brings us to our next topic...

I am getting a haircut tonight, at a kind of pricey place. But since I haven't had it cut since March 1, I think I am justified in spending a bit more than usual. Not to mention that I am in the throes of the awkward growing-out stage and cannot bear to have someone do a hack job on me. The cut's at 8:15, so think of me then. :-) If I'm pleased, I will post photos tomorrow.

I thought it was about time I gave you all a TSU (turkey sandwich update.) Today I had a turkey sandwich with pepperjack cheese. I asked the deli man to give me about half the usual amount of turkey, explaining that I just can't eat it all and feel bad wasting it. He did a pretty good job. I got a more human-sized sandwich and finished the whole thing, and even had a bit of room left for an orange. Much more pleasant.

Back to work after four lovely days off. It's not quite as bad as I thought, but I'd rather still be relaxing!

Had a really fun, relaxing and somewhat productive weekend. Did some shopping, did some knitting, did some eating, did some drinking, did some other stuff that just isn't appropriate to mention in a knitting blog, and generally had a great time!

I'm up to the second side of the "v" on the back of the Ginger tank, and if I can figure out how to reverse the shapings and not screw it up (I frogged it three times on the roof deck of Ryan's apartment building yesterday) I should be finished with it tonight at Stitch-n-Bitch. Of course, silly me left the front of the tank sitting on the cedar chest at my house, so unless I stop at home before S-n-B, it's going to remain a UFO!

Actually, I think I will make it a point to stop at home, since I really want to put it together with other people around. I've never actually had anyone show me how to mattress stitch, and I kinda want an "official" lesson. I've looked at pictures and figured it out mostly for myself, but listening to Marney explain it to someone last week gave me the sneaking suspicion that I could be doing it better.

I'm looking forward to the S-n-B tonight, but also somewhat sad because it is going to be our dear Ms. Chunky's last NYC Stitch-n-Bitch! You west coasters are lucky - soon she'll be gracing you with her presence. Carolyn, I haven't known you all that long, but I will miss you very much!

In other sad news, I was totally jonesin' for some Ronnybrook Farm yogurt this morning, to mix with granola, and I went to the Central Market at Grand Central station, and the Ronnybrook Farm stand was no longer there! Their yogurt is so good - it's not overly sweet, but very flavorful, particularly the maple-vanilla. I usually buy it at the greenmarket at Union Square, but since I was coming from Brooklyn this morning, I thought I'd get it at Grand Central. Waaah! I was forced to go the supermarket and buy regular too-sweet yogurt. I just wrote to the info email address to find out whether they are gone for good.

Just came across Theresa's "Personal Yarns" questions. Sure, I'll answer!

1. Where were you born? What do you know about your own birth? (time, circumstance, etc...)
I was born in Huntington, NY - out on Long Island. June 3rd was a hot day that year, and there was apparently a tremendous thunderstorm while I was being born at 11:19 pm (according to my birth certificate). Mom really wanted a girl (I have an older brother) so being superstitious, she wore only pink to the hospital.

2. Do you have a baby picture you can put onto your weblog? If not, tell us what you looked like as a baby.
Look that way -------> I'm not sure how old I was there, but my Mom says this is her favorite baby picture of me. I have to admit I think it's damn cute, too. There's also these two below. First from best friend Diana's birthday party, and the second with Diana, her brother Greg, my brother Larry (the one tossing the baseball up) and Greg and Diana's mother Georgia, who died in 1995. I figured you would all enjoy the giggle from the clothes and the fact that my pasty white face practically glows compared to the others!






3. What kind of a baby or toddler were you according to the people who were around when you were young?
As an infant, they called me "little miss sunshine" because I was so well-tempered. Mom would come into my room in the morning and find me gurgling happily in the crib. I am not making this up. I am also not quite as cheery in the mornings these days! I was a funny little kid, who taught myself to read secretly at the age of four. At pre-school they thought Mom and Dad did it, and Mom and Dad thought it happened at pre-school. Hehehe. I'm still sort of like that - I tend to prefer to present people with the finished product rather than let them share the progress (particularly the setbacks.) Knitting seems to be the exception.

4. Know any cute baby-related quotes?
Something about how the mountain lion got its spots, which makes no sense since mountain lions don't have spots. My favorite quote isn't mine, though. When I was on the way, my parents went to look at a crib that someone was selling, and they took my four-year-old brother. In the middle of these strangers' living room, my brother smiled sweetly and said "I hate you Mommy!" and giggled. Of course he had no idea what he was saying, but imagine how mortifying it was?! Hmm. I know I must have said many cute things as a child. I will have to check with Mom later and get back to you.

Oh happy day! It's the beginning of my four-day weekend! The past week was so exhausting that this long weekend is even more precious than it would normally be. I stayed up too late last night and couldn't sleep in this morning, but I just don't care because it's sunny and beautiful and I don't have to work until Tuesday.

Got up to the armhole shaping last night on Ginger, and now I am in a quandary over how to proceed. The directions are confusing me. I posted to the ever-helpful knitting bloggers list, so hopefully I will get assistance soon. If anyone reading is a big Rowan fan and wants to know what's getting me stuck, let me know and I'll email you, since I don't want to bore everyone with posting it all here.

The plan this morning is to do a little cleaning-up around here, maybe laundry, a trip to the greenmarket. Later I am going shopping with my next-door neighbor Adrienne. We're hitting Old Navy with my 20% off coupon so we can get lots of cute little summery things without breaking the bank. Yay! I need to stock up on plain white tees, since I seem to have spilled soy sauce, tomato sauce or some unidentified substance on at least half of the ones I already own.

Not much else to say at the moment. So I suppose I won't!

Phew! That was a crazy morning. No internet access until around noon, and it didn't matter because I was slammed with work right up until I ran out the door to have lunch with Ms. Chunky! We had a lovely sojourn on the steps of the Morgan Library, enjoying the (finally!) spring weather.

Now I am unmotivated to do anything but ought to turn to those notes from yesterday's symposium. Time to make my unedited notes into an informative summary. Yipes. Maybe I won't have to work on it too long. My boss is basically waiting on pins and needles for his boss to leave, so he can leave, and in turn, I can leave! I am sending "go home" thoughts Bernie's way as we speak...

Since I had SO many extra-nice comments while I was gone (thanks, guys!) that I figured I'd just post an update. I'm back from Philly, and I decided on the Ginger tank for the train. And yes, Jackie, my plan is to wear it as a twin set. Ginger and Honey seem to go together. The train rides were very comfy and convenient - Amtrak has improved since I last took the train anywhere (4-5 years I guess). I got this much done:



The conference itself was interesting but very tedious, and I took about 15 pages of notes on my colleagues laptop, which I have to turn into a summary tomorrow. Fun fun fun. I'd rather be knitting.

OK, where is that boy? He went to some industry cocktail party and was going to have left 10 minutes ago. I am starving! FEED MEEE!

Ended up staying far later than I had planned at Stitch-n-Bitch last night. Jackie, Marney and Carolyn are absolutely evil! Though it wasn't that tough to get me to stay once I realized that I didn't actually have to get up early this morning. Usually I get up at 7:15 to be at the office at 9, but today I don't have to go in before going to Philly, and I'm meeting my colleague at Penn Station around 10:45. So, I didn't get home until 11 and didn't actually get to bed until after midnight.

Unfortunately, the garbage truck was really loud this morning and I was up at 7 anyway. Argh! I seem to be waking up more from street noise lately, and I don't know if it's just that there's more noise or I am sleeping less soundly. I tend to be a light sleeper anyway, so the latter would not be good news.

But, making the best of a bad situation, I finished up the top of the strawberry cap I started last night. This is going to be for Tracy's new baby girl, born yesterday. I'm not certain about her name just yet, but it may be Lily.



The cap is from the Anne Norling pattern, using Tahki Cotton Classic. When I left last night I was up to the beginning of the top leaves, so you can see this works up very quickly. Everyone at Stitch-n-Bitch kept telling me how cute it is, and since I didn't actually design the pattern or anything, I feel OK agreeing. I love these little fruit caps and seem to not tire of knitting them.

Since I was in photo mode, I also took a snap of the finished Honey cardigan. It's tough to see the detail along the raglan edges, so maybe I will get a better shot later. Wore it to work last Friday and got some compliments, followed by astonishment when I said I'd knit it myself. And made the button out of Sculpey. :-)



Now here comes silliness: I am so close to finishing the Mom sweater sleeve that I know I would finish it in the first hour of my train ride, and have nothing for the rest, or the way home. So obviously I should start something new from my WIM list. It will either be the Ginger tank in the same Summer Tweed as the cardie, or the Flame tank in this pretty black sparkly yarn I picked up a few months ago. You'll just have to wait anxiously to find out which it is!

Hmm, the case of the disappearing blog has returned. Let's try posting and see if it fixes it again!

We've finally gotten somewhere on that sleeve. I finished all the increases last night while talking to Paul, who came over to watch the "Ally McBeal" series finale. Now, I loved that show the first two seasons, and haven't watched it in about three years, since it just got too annoyingly stupid for me. But I hadn't seen Paul in a while and was curious about the show's end, so I watched. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was lamer than the "X-Files" finale. When Ally was saying goodbye to all at the end, Paul was joking around saying "And I'll miss you, Cowardly Lion, and you Mr. Scarecrow" and then Ally gets to the Biscuit at the end of the line and says "I'll miss you the most, Scarecrow." We nearly fell off the sofa. Dialogue should never be that predictable!

Now my dilemma is I don't think I have enough yarn with me to finish the sleeve, but I was planning on going to the gym, then Stitch-n-Bitch tonight, which doesn't really leave enough time to stop at home. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just take it as a sign - I said I didn't want to stay too late tonight, so when I run out, I should leave. Or I could skip the gym and run home for yarn. Or I could buy new yarn at Downtown Yarns and start a new project.

Actually, that third choice is the most likely option. Leanne's sister Tracy is having her baby today (she's a tiny little persona and this is her 3rd C-section, this time they decided to schedule it in advance) and since I am no way no how going to finish those baby blocks in time, I am going to make it a little strawberry cap, and some co-ordinating booties and/or bib. It's already on my list to buy the stuff tonight. Hey, if anyone has the Ann Norling fruit cap pattern on them, can you tell me what the gauge is and how many stitches to cast on for the newborn size? Mine is somewhere at home, but I couldn't find it last night.

Wow, is it Monday already? I suppose it is. I also suppose it is March, and that's why I am wearing this turtleneck? What is up with the weather? 95 degrees in April, then 48 in May.

I achieved a goal yesterday at the 9th Avenue Food Fair: I tasted a deep-fried oreo cookie! I have been wanting one ever since reading about them on Jenny's blog. If you've never tried them - yum! Take an oreo cookie, dip it into funnel cake batter, then drop it in hot oil. A lovely experience, captured in pixels (doesn't quite have the ring as "caught on film," eh?):





In addition to the oreo bliss, Ryan and I had the fun of running into Jackie and Marney along the way! I realized too late that we should have taken a picture, but the camera was in the bag, forgotten, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Working backwards on the weekend, I managed to finish the first sleeve of Mom's sweater, and we spent a few hours at the MoMA. That almost didn't happen, as when we got the museum, there were about 300 people on line outside to buy tickets. We walked into the lobby to assess the situation, and when we looked through the glass, we saw Carla standing outside. Turns out she has a friend at the museum, so she wandered in, got us free tickets, and we sauntered past the line. Oh I love it when things like that happen! It was terribly crowded inside, so we didn't stay too long, but it was nice to see some of the Richter exhibit as well as the "greatest hits" from the permanent collection before it all moves to Queens for three years.

OK, I am all over the place chronologically, but jumping back to Sunday night, I was pretty disappointed in the finale of "The X-Files." It gave a good rundown of the story and some answers and clarifications, but I felt the drama and emotion were sorely lacking and the direction was really flat. A letdown for me, since I have been a big fan for years, and have seen every episode, even had most on tape until a season or two ago. I guess it really was just time for it to end. I know Chris Carter has talked about going the "Star Trek" route and doing movies from here on in, but I don't know if I see that happening, or if they'd even be compelling at this point. He really messed with the story too much in the past two seasons, and got away from the original feeling of the show. It pains me to say that. There was a time when I loved the show so much I couldn't bear any criticism of it at all.

Well, I've bent your ears (eyes?) long enough here. I suppose I will go do some work!

Dinner last night with my neighbors Chris and Adrienne was yummy! We went to Roetelle A.G. - a cute little Swiss restaurant not too far from home. Stuffed ourselves silly on fondue - cheese followed by chocolate. Plus 2 bottles of wine and a shot of kirsch to top off the meal. On the way home, Ryan was all rowdy and trying to get us to go out salsa dancing or to a strip club. Chris was in for it, and Adrienne was like "no way, we are SO going home" so I got to be quiet about it and look as though I was up for it but Adrienne wasn't. Kind of a "good cop, bad cop" routine. Of course, the hilarious part to me was that about 10 minutes after we got home, I went to brush my teeth, and found Ryan asleep. Uh-huh. Very rowdy.

This morning is is 46 friggin degrees and raining. Lovely. Plans are to go the MoMA later, as this is the last weekend before they move it to Long Island City until 2005. I hope the rain lets up, because I'm getting the feeling the place will already be crowded, and rain makes the museums even more attractive to most people.

Tomorrow we're going to my favorite street fair - the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival. I'm very excited because we/I have been away during the festival for the past three years, and I have really missed it! Sunday is also the 3-year anniversary of our first date, and the final episode of The X-Files, so it's looking to be an action-packed weekend!

Hmm, given all that, I think I'll take advantage of the boy's comatose state and get some knitting done. I am just about up to shaping the sleeve cap on Mom's sweater.

Well lookeee here - it worked! :-D

Help! My blog has vanished! Maybe publishing a new entry will make it reappear. [Crossing fingers...]

Shoe news: I am sad to report that though the new red shoes were extremely comfy all day in the office, they did not perform so well during my 20 minute hoof-it-across-town to the Port Authority Bus Terminal yesterday afternoon. We are talking serious blisters on both pinkie toes, the vamp cutting into the top of my foot, and a painful indentation on the bottom of my foot from the lining on the sole near the instep. I was in pain with every step the rest of the night.

I'm not sure if this is a problem inherent in the shoes, or inherent in wearing brand-new shoes for a fast walk all the way across town (just under a mile and a half, according to mapquest.com). I am very disturbed, though. These are supposed to be comfort shoes, so they shouldn't require a big break-in period. Not sure what I will do. Perhaps give them another chance. I think my feet swelled and that was part of the problem, but if they're not going to be comfortable for real walking, they're not going to be shoes for this city girl! I will keep you all posted.

Lots of fun last night seeing Star Wars with Jill and Rob. I think we all enjoyed it except Ryan, who was very critical. Not unusual. I think he may have hated it. I actually wouldn't let him go to deep into it last night because I didn't want him to point out all the bad things and ruin the movie for me. Selfish, perhaps, but that's how I felt. It's friggin' Star Wars and I'm going to enjoy it no matter what!

Man, is Natalie Portman gorgeous. I'm a straight woman and even I can't keep my eyes off of her.

I have never done the Friday Five before, but this week's is just too-too appropriate. I have been struggling with hair issues, as I'm well into the awkward stage of the growing-out period. This is made more apparent by the curliness of my hair. When it was short short short it was straight straight straight, but those days are over. Now it's just moderately short and unpredictably curly. It's been over 2 months since my last cut, and I sort of want to get it shaped up a bit, but I am having that "don't want to lose any hard-earned hair length" thing. So, here's the five:

1. What shampoo do you use?

Right now it's some banana stuff with a French name I got on sale at Sephora. Tres yummy, though that isn't the name.

2. Do you use conditioner? What kind?

Always! Lately it's that Thermasilk stuff, because I'm growing out my hair and during the winter found myself with a need to blow-dry it for the first time in nearly 7 years!

3. When was the last time you got your hair cut?

March 1st. This is the longest I have gone without a haircut in 7 years. And it is still just a couple of inches long. This is going to take forever!

4. What styling products do you use?

Everything, these days. Used to use molding cream when it was really short. Then during the slightly longer stage it was mousse + molding cream on the ends. Now in just the past 2 days I've decided to stop blow-drying and let it curl again, so I'm relying on Kiehl's Creme with Silk Groom - the most amazing conditioner/styler ever, even if I have a major problem with buying Kiehl's stuff these days. (Stemming from getting jerked around for months by their corporate office regarding a job they said they wanted to hire me for, and having zero to do with their products!)

5. What's your worst hair-related experience?

The 80s.

My very first thought upon learning this morning that I need to go to an alcoholism drug symposium in Philadelphia next week: "Ooh, that means I can knit in comfort on Amtrak!"

Yes, boys and girls, we have an addict here. Attending a symposium on treating other kinds of addics. Luckily, no one gets hurt by my addiction (OK, occasionally me if I leave my needles on the sofa) and several people actually benefit.

Got back to the sleeve in earnest last night, and am nearly to shaping the sleeve cap. It always irks me how big sleeves seem to be when you're knitting them. And this is even 8 stitches smaller than the original (huge Rowan sleeve) instructions. It just feels like they take forever! Maybe next time I will start with the sleeves!

Very excited over several things. First, we are going to see Episode II tonight! In 1999, when Episode I came out, I wasn't working full-time, so when my cousin Jill called me in the mid-afternoon and said she and her husband had just scored three tickets for that night, I was able to hop on a bus to New Jersey (40 minutes) and go with them. Since then, we decided it was a nice tradition, so we got four tickets for tonight at 7, same theater. My boss is fine with me leaving at 4 - he's a big movie fan himself, though not a Star Wars fan.

I'm also excited about my new shoes!



I've never bought this brand (Born) before, but I highly recommend them. It's like having little pillows strapped to my feet. I got them in red, and have already gotten lots of oohs and aahs from the other ladies in the office.

Also, it's a sunny, warm day and I'm fairly happy with the work I've done this past week, so I am basically feeling pretty darn pleased with the world. Let's hope it continues!

Hmm, I just wrote Deb a long note explaining what the Parson's thing was like - should've saved it and pasted it in here! Anyway, what I said was it was very interesting and informative, and I think I've made my mind up.

They really seem to push their certificate program, which is something like 10 courses (6 required, 4 electives) which take an average of 2 years if you can do 2 classes per week including summers. Now, the certificate isn't recognized by any official organization - it's really just a piece of paper to make you feel good and to show that you took all these classes. It's not going to get you a job or clients.

Also, I can't imagine spending the next 2 years taking night classes in floral design. I mean, I know people who spend that much time taking night classes for their MASTERS or other higher degree. Plus it involves spending around $6K, which seems an awfully large investment. It's not like I am an empty vessel needing to be filled up with knowledge - I have my own ideas and a general level of creativity, but I need to know the how-to's and get a bit more inspired + comfortable with the medium.

So, I think I am going to take Fresh Floral Design I in the summer, and then maybe part II in the Fall, and maybe a Weddings and/or Event design class. I am betting that the work I do in those classes, and whatever I do on my own, will help me get a foothold that I can use to maybe get a couple of jobs on the side, while keeping my day job for the foreseeable future. My best friend is a pastry chef who does wedding cakes, so I can see some synergy developing there. Wedding flowers are so damn expensive, and if I can do a nice job and save people some cash, there's a start and a good way to build a portfolio.

So, that's the plan for now. No major leaps. Even the Parsons people say "don't quit your day job" even if you're doing the certificate. So, I think I've got a bit of a plan. The worst that happens is I decide not to do it for pay and I just have a new skill that makes my house more purdy.

No knitting after the info session. We had Korean Barbecue for dinner, then came home and did my laundry. Whoo-hoo! Livin' the high life here!

3 more rows done on the sleeve during my morning bus ride. I better get some concentrated time in and finish this sucker up soon.

I must say, Bliss was the nicest pedicure I've ever had. The nail room there is lovely - the walls are painted with tropical blue-green waters fading off into a horizon with a gorgeous blue sky, so as you sit with your feet in the water, you can gaze off into the ocean. And the woman who did my pedicure, Olga, was awfully sweet. She twisted my arm into accepting a plate of snacks (focaccia, olives, cheese, almonds and cucumbers) and a glass of crisp and fruity white wine. I felt tres pampered! Which was extra nice on a really crappy-weather day.

I knit about another 2 inches of sock during my pedicure/drying time, which made me feel extra-productive. Plus all the ladies thought it was so novel that someone was knitting. Though I would imagine Bliss attracts the HYUK crowd, I could be mistaken! Anyway, I have another appointment there in a little over a month (pre-vacation) and I am looking forward to it already!

So the sock is progressing as discussed above. The sleeve got a few more rows on the bus this morning. The baby blocks are sitting waiting for me to have the energy for them again. I may have to whip up something else for Tracy's baby, since these are far more time-consuming than I had expected.

Not going to make it to Stitch-n-Bitch tonight, sadly. I have been considering a (not right-now, but in the next few years) career change, and tonight there is an open house to learn more about the program I'm considering. What I believe I want to do is get into floral design, and Parsons actually has a certificate program, so I want to check it out and possibly take the first class this summer to see if I really enjoy it as much as I think I will.

This move would be a huge change and a ridiculous pay cut (we're talking maybe 1/3 of my current salary to start) so it's not happening anytime too soon, but I'm thinking maybe I could ease my way in with doing stuff on weekends, perhaps for people who are short on budget but want pretty flowers for parties, weddings, etc. Anyway, the boy is going to come with me to the open house, which is awfully nice and supportive of him. And it's at 6 tonight, so no stitching or bitching for me.

I'm just full of questions today. This one prompted by lunch: why are deli sandwiches so big?! I just got turkey and cheddar on a roll, and there were just about 2 inches of turkey piled on this thing. I took out more than half the turkey on each half, and I have more than enough to make another sandwich or two out of it. And we wonder why so many Americans are so overweight - someone has actually come to think of this as a normal sandwich. This has no relation to the sandwiches I make at home. One of these afternoons I will bring my camera and take some before and after photos of my deli sandwiches. Won't that make for some exciting viewing?

OK, here's a little poll. On the way home from seeing Spider-Man (which, to my amazement, I loved) on Friday night, we were talking about how expensive it is to see a movie in NYC. Not an unusual topic, since we really enjoy movies. But it got me thinking - I know movies here are pricier than anywhere else I know, but how much are movies around the country? I seem to recall paying 5 or 6 bucks in Kentucky 2 summers ago. So who better to ask than my geographically-diverse knitblog buddies (and anyone else who happens to read my blog)?

I'll start - here in NYC, most theaters charge $10.00 per adult ticket. And since it's a busy, crowded city and we usually like to see movies on weekend nights, we generally buy advance tickets via moviefone so we don't get shut out of what we want to see. That adds another dollar to each ticket, so it's really $11.00 each to see a flick. What is it where you live? And are you generally able to see what you want by just showing up and buying tickets, or do you do the moviefone thang? Inquiring minds want to know!

Busy, busy as a little bee over here. Mother's Day was nice. First, Ryan and I went down to the lower east side and got the best NYC brunch stuff - bialys from Kossars, lox and cream cheese from Russ & Daughters, and added that to the organic salad I had picked up the day before at the Union Square Greenmarket. Then Mom and Dad came in and we chowed down at my place before heading up to see the 3-D Imax movie, Space Station. Mom is very interested (and knowledgeable about) aerospace stuff, so this was the perfect plan for her. Dad, too, even though it wasn't "his" day. What an amazing movie - the footage from the International Space Station was fascinating, and the 3-D (gotta love those crazy headset/glasses!) really brought the feeling that this is as close as I'm ever going to get to being in space. If you have the opportunity to see this, do it! It puts a really human face on the whole subject and left us all feeling inspired.

I don't think I knit a stitch all weekend, between cleaning and shopping and entertaining Mom. And this morning I couldn't find the sweater sleeve I have been working on! Of course Ryan found it after I had left. But I did bring my sock with me, even though I find it much harder to do that kind of work on the bus. I am getting a pedicure at Bliss tonight, so I figure while my toesies dry I can get some rounds in on that. Since it's rather chilly to wear flip-flops right now, I expect I'll take an extra-long time drying tonight and have more knitting time. Yay!

So I'm up early and want to read the NY Times for a change, and it's not there. Home delivery is supposed to be there at some ungodly hour of the morning, and it usually is. Except when I want it to be. Argh! All I want to do is sit quietly on the sofa and read my paper! I used to do that every weekend before I met that boy, and since he sleeps so much longer than I do, I kind of want to get back in the habit. I feel guilty when it comes Monday and the little weekend newspaper pile has been disturbed only to get the magazine section (which I adore). Even that doesn't get read the way it used to. I used to do the crossword on Sunday nights. I miss that, too. And now when I do, I am not as good as I used to be! These are things I must correct.

Well, I'll go check again and see if it came while I wasn't paying attention. Hold please.

Nope. Grrrr.

I guess I'll go knit.

Hmm, everyone seems to be moving their blogs off blogspot and onto their own domains. Been thinking about doing that myself lately, so perhaps I will join the crowd soon enough.

Not much news here. I finished off the purse for Adrienne, then wrapped it up without taking a picture. Doh! Oh well, when she opens it tonight I will take a snap or two. It came out very cute, though not quite the proportions I wanted. That's what you get for just letting it take shape as it goes along. Next time I'd go a little wider and shorter, but this is still a cute purse.

No other knitting last night. Had a nice night with my sweetie, and fell asleep exhausted around 10:30-45. Still woke up sluggish this morning, though. But the nice weather is perking me up. I think I'll take a longish lunch and maybe buy some new sunglasses.

What a morning. Up late, then in late, and still falling asleep at my desk. It's rainy and grey and traffic is hardly moving out there. I'm so sleepy my eyes are actually burning.

Hardly any knitting last night. I have been making a little knitted purse for my next-door-neighbor's birthday, and it's mostly finished. I'll post pics later, but it's quite cute - orangey-gold and purple, with mostly purple on one side, mostly orangey-gold on the other, and a little wave pattern at the top where the colors meet (stitch pattern from my Encyclopedia of Knitting). I'm making handles out of i-cord with one strand of each color.

Problem is, I can't find the fabric I wanted to use to line it with! I know it's there somewhere, but I really need to finish the purse by tomorrow, so I may just suck it up and buy some more. We tried to go to a fabric store near home last night, but it was closed after 7pm. Grrr. I was thinking of walking towards the garment district at lunchtime, but it's so crappy out and I was in late so I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe I'll go the place we tried last night after work today, since I will definitely be out of here in time.

No other progress to report, and I'd better get some work done today. Have fun!

Fun as usual last night at Stitch-n-Bitch. Quite a large crowd, particularly for such a nice, warm night. Once again, I was frogging a sleeve, leading Marney to ask if I frog all my sleeves. Sadly, that is starting to become true, it seems! I started again with 8 fewer stitches and the size looks far closer to realistic proportions.

Stayed later than I expected (10:30) and I'm paying for it a bit now. It took a long time to wind down once I got home, and I didn't fall asleep until after midnight. Yuk. Didn't have a great morning, either. I spent too long downloading new music to my MP3 player, only to discover that the stuff I recently downloaded from KazAa makes it "hang." Something to do with the ID3 tags, and I didn't have a chance to run the ID3Kill program on the new stuff. Supposedly they are releasing a firmware update sometime that will prevent this problem, but for now I am just sad and grumpy because I couldn't listen to any music on the way here! Oh well, I suppose there are far worse problems I could be having right now.

Last night, Deb commented that she was expecting someone with much longer hair when she read that I had been growing it out for several months, and that it must've been really short before this. She is absolutely correct, and I told her I'd post a pic from the shorter days. This was in October, which was right before I started growing it. My hair had been approximately this short since about 1995, so you can see I am just about starting from scratch here.

Oooh, I am so excited! We just got invited to a surprise birthday party for a friend's 30th, and it's a carnival theme! Party's going to be held at her brother's house (more like "estate" - he's a dotcom millionaire I used to work for, actually) and sounds like a real blast. But the best part is I've decided to make my first foray into really designing something. She really really loves bright colors and crazy flowers and stuff, so I am going to design something with a great flowered intarsia pattern on it. Probably a purse, since I don't really think I can finish all my other stuff and knit a tank or something in time (6/15) and she has odd measurements (skinny girl, HUGE boobs). Maybe a pillow or something, but one pillow seems lonely. So I think a purse would be perfect, and with this girl, would actually get used. It might be flowers on one side, smiley face (another fave of hers) on the other. Either way, it's going to be fu-u-un!

This week's reading (at work): stuff about schizophrenia and atypical antipsychotic drugs. Whee!

Had an unsatisfying manicure experience at lunchtime. I went to the place I went last time, which is a little nail shop 2 blocks away from the office. The owner did my nails this time, and she was very odd. First off, she commented on my eyebrows, saying she liked them thick like that, then tried to get me to let her wax them. Now, in all fairness, they are pretty messy at the moment, because I wax and tweeze myself and just haven't gotten to it since I noticed it was time. But still, it felt weird that she was so intent on them.

Then, she made a comment I couldn't quite understand (thick accent, talking fast) about either the hair on my arms or the paleness of the skin on my arms. Either way, I know it wasn't a compliment! Then, to top it off, she "wouldn't let" me use the color I picked (the quotes are because, obviously, I have insisted, but she was very opinionated on this one.) Instead of the opaque light pink I had chosen, she made me go with a sheer light pink. It's pretty, but not what I wanted. Because of the aforementioned fair skin, I like a manicure with a big of contrast, and this just doesn't do it. My nails look very neat and clean and lovely, but not girlie-pretty the way I wanted them!

To top it off, I got a little smudgie when I went to pay for my lunch sandwich afterwards (and yes, I did sit through the whole cycle on the nail dryer and yes I was being careful.) That part isn't her fault, but it adds to the unsatisfying experience. I think I shall have to find another place for my lunchtime manicures. Someplace a bit more comfortable. It's not like there aren't 50 nail salons in a 10 block radius - I'm sure I can make a better choice next time.

OK, once again I am posting about a Rowan sleeve problem. I'm about 9 inches into the first sleeve for Mom's sweater, and the thing is way to friggin big! I even followed the smaller size instructions for the sleeve, and it's still going to be a frog-o-rama. Mom has thin arms and tiny wrists, and this will swim on her. So I know I have to adjust the pattern, but I am not sure how much I should adjust. And whether I should just cast on fewer stitches and work the increases at the same rate, etc. Also whether it will screw up the armhole and not fit. I'm going to bring it to Stitch-n-Bitch tonight. Hopefully someone there will be able to help. Obviously I'm open to suggestions here, too!

I think Spring has finally decided to stick around here. It was so nice to walk out this morning in capri pants and be comfy. Soon, I will be able to do away with those pesky socks! (I see Squib and I share this love of going sockless.) I'll still knit the ones I am working on, of course. By the time I finish them, it will likely be Fall.

I think today's the day for a lunchtime manicure. I go in cycles - for months I won't care a whit about my nails, then I'll get all into them for a few months, getting regular manicures. Then I'll go back to not caring. Funny, these cycles often correspond to my disposable income...

What a beautiful weekend! Hardly got any knitting done, but I did get to check out the new yarn store, "Knitting Hands" on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Nice store, and a great selection of yarns and patterns. Lots of needles and other accessories, too. I was pretty pleased, especially since I will probably be moving to Brooklyn some months from now! The owner wasn't overly friendly, but she wasn't unfriendly either, and seems like she'd be helpful if it's needed or if one becomes a "regular."

I am very conflicted over buying yarn these days. I want to support my LYSs, but their prices are just too high sometimes, especially here in the city. And they don't always have the selection I want, particularly when it comes to color and quantity. For some yarns, like Rowan, I just can't see spending nearly 40% more to buy them locally when I can order them at far less cost online. I think I've decided I will continue to buy needles and stuff locally, and the sort of "basic" yarn - Brown Sheep, etc. that doesn't vary too much in price. And mostly I want to continue to support Downtown Yarns, since that's my "localest" store and where they are so nice to me. I wish I could see my way clear to walk in and drop 100 bucks on yarn for one basic sweater, but even when I can afford it, I hate to do that. Anyone else feel the same way?

Thanks to my dear sweetie (yay Ryan!), you can now see the "CBS Early Show" knitting segment featuring our NY Stitch-n-Bitch group. It's a quicktime movie, and you can choose either the low bandwidth or the high bandwidth version. If you're not sure what that means: if you're on a dial-up connection, definitely go with the low one. If you're on a good, speedy DSL or cable connection, or an office network, you can probably download the high bandwidth version (better resolution, looks nicer) and play it from your desktop. And if you want to know who's who, check out Carolyn's screenshots!

Just time for a quickie post before I head out shopping with Diana, who just got a new job and needs stuff to wear to it. Happy Birthday to Carolyn! A perfect day for a birthday - sunny and happy outside.

Wish my sweetie was in as good a mood as the weather seems to be. He was not cheerful when he left to head over to the computer lab. Tried my best to cheer him up, but it didn't work. I'm sure it'll wear off later. Among other things, he's going to digitize the "CBS Early Show" video from the other day, so I should have a link to that soon.

In the meantime, have a nice day, everyone!

Kat'nea, this pic's for you!



It's a throw, not a bedspread, but this was the best way to photograph it. A gift from the sweetie a few years ago. :-)

Very un-busy at the moment. And I think I have found what I want to make as a baby gift for my cousin Jill, courtesy of Erica's blog: MOO! Although she's making it in blue and white to look like clouds (an idea I love!) I will make it in the regular cow colors. Jill and I independently ended up liking cow print stuff in our kitchens, and I think this will be an absolutely adorable gift. Not to mention something completely different from all the pastel stuff she's bound to receive.

I'm ordering the book and yarn from Apple Laine, which I think I saw mentioned on Shetha's blog a while back. I like the idea of ordering from a real farm. I'm also asking for some samples of the beautiful yarns they show on their site. Sometimes mohair is itchy, so I want to feel theirs before I buy it.

Finished the last two squares for the small baby block last night - a duckie and a housie. So cute! Didn't get to take a pic, but I will later. Now I guess I will move on to the large block, and save the medium one for last, since it will feel small after the big one. This is definitely a good project to teach myself intarsia knitting. I'm a little concerned about assembling the blocks. Just afraid they won't all match up, even though I'll block them to the right size, and all. Gotta head down to the foam store soon to get the blocks to stuff them with.

So glad it's Friday, and a sunny one, to boot! Last night I cleaned up the sofa and other stuff, so I feel a b it better about the state of affairs at home. Next task will be to get some stuff listed on eBay. Mom has a bit of a Home Shopping/QVC thing, and she ends up buying more stuff than she can use. Either that or she buys a big kit of makeup and doesn't like all the stuff in it. Either way, about a year ago, she discovered she could give it to me to sell on eBay. I've been deluged ever since. Right now there is quite a pile of stuff next to the computer that I need to photograph and list so I can get it the hell out of my house! I shouldn't complain - all my spending money for last year's vacation came from selling that stuff, so it's definitely worthwhile. Just now that I have a full-time job again, the motivation is a little lower and I am busier.

Yay! I'm finished with the alcohol studies! Reading and summarizing nine of those things in two days was just not so fun. But at least now I have a really good understanding of them. Ack. And now, the project that I wasn't enjoying working on before this came up has been put on hold, so I have nothing hanging over my head. Yay!

So Marney started a blog, too - go Marney! I thought I had knitted a lot in the past 6 months, for a beginner, but that girl puts me to SHAME! And she looked cute talking about it on CBS this morning, too. Update on that - the boy says he may be able to digitize the video tomorrow.

Still yukky weather. Do I really have to go to the gym? I haven't gained any weight since I slowed down on it. And I am awfully tired. And there is an awfully large pile of summer clothes on my sofa, there since Sunday when I got tired of switching my closets over and disgusted at the sudden cold turn of weather. And I have knitting to do. I'm all into the blocks again, which is good, since the baby they are meant for will be born soon. :-) Given all that, I think I may just go straight home. Sssh, don't tell anyone.

So, I'm not famous yet, but I did catch several glimpses of myself, Carolyn, and Jackie a little while ago on the CBS "This Morning" knitting segment. I was particularly amused by the close-up of my hands knitting the sleeve of my cardigan - boy do I wish I had freshened up that bright pink manicure! The piece was amusing, and maybe it'll recruit some new knitters. I'm going to see if Ryan can digitize the VHS so I can post it somewhere, if no one gets to it before I do.

In other news, I hope the reservoirs are getting some of this rain that we're getting here in the city. Boy is it pouring out there. Luckily (well, no luck about it - shall I say smartily?) I wore my rubber rain shoes, nylon "track" pants (Old Navy), looooong London Fog raincoat and carried an umbrella. So basically the only part of me that really got wet were a few inches of my ankles, and they dry quickly because of the nylon.

I remember that back in high school it was decidedly uncool to use any sort of raingear. Particularly a raincoat or umbrella. So we'd end up like drowned rats at school, even though I only had about a four-minute walk. Looking back on it, I realized an interesting hierarchy of issues here: hair (BIG HAIR) was very important at the time, but apparently was less important than being "cool" in the rain, since the lack of raingear meant the flattening of hair. Interesting, and all exceedingly stupid. I wonder if high school kids are smarter today?

Back to the knitting news. I started off the night thinking I wouldn't do anything, but then got back into the baby blocks and did two more squares on the small block. The sailboat and the flower are the new ones, and have not been blocked or had their ends woven in yet, but I took a quick photo of the four I have completed so far. There's also a sailboat for the large block, but I didn't include that in the picture. Two more to go on the small one, six on the medium, and five on the large. Hmm. Perhaps I should've started on the large one, so it would get easier as time goes on.

I was afraid I would see what I saw when I made the blog rounds today. Kate is busy gloating about the Maple Leafs' victory over my dear Islanders. Oh well, I decided I would still like her - she can't help being Canadian any more than I can help being born on Long Island. Almost as irritating as the loss was that for some dumb reason the game was blacked out on my cable system, so when I returned from Stitch-n-Bitch I had to listen to my team lose via webcast. Ick.

Lots of fun last night at the Stitch-n-Bitch. Much smaller crowd this week, since the bright lights and TV cameras were not on the agenda. Got to see Carolyn working on a fuzzy pink donut (OK, someone said it was a swatch for a sweater, but we call 'em as we see 'em), and Jackie knitting away at her pretty Kidsilk Haze sweater. Plus I got to meet Deb, who doesn't have a blog at the moment, but I'm sure we'll convince her soon enough. Deb had my favorite story of the week when she told me a few days back that her 3-year-old daughter wanted to meet me because she saw the picture on my blog and thought I was a little girl, too!

I left the cafe and had the good fortune to catch the bus just as it was pulling into the stop across the street. Normally I would walk, but this particular bus happens to go up Avenue A, turn left on 14th Street, and drop my about 100 yards from my apartment. Who could resist? And when I sat down, I had a nice surprise in the form of Diane, the woman who taught my first knitting class! This is not so bizarre, since she teaches at Downtown Yarns, the LYS right near the cafe we Stitch-n-Bitch in. Still, it's always nice to run into friendly faces, particularly on the bus at night.

As for my knitting, I'm just plugging away at the sleeve of Mom's sweater. It feels big. I am having lilac cardigan sleeve flashbacks. Are all Rowan sleeves written big? Do women in the UK have particularly large arms? It's not as though the rest of the pattern is large. On the contrary, they seem to run a bit small, except for the sleeves. I am torn between frogging and sizing it down, and continuing on but checking it out before I make the second one. Am I stupid for giving myself the opportunity to make this mistake twice?! Only time will tell. I've decided this is a birthday sweater, so I am off the hook for finishing it by next Sunday.

And there you have it, today's minutae. Now I have eight clinical studies to read and summarize by the end of the day, and boy am I looking forward to it. We've moved from alcoholic rat studies to alcoholic people studies, so it's slightly more interesting.

Made it back to the gym last night, after about 2 weeks AWOL. Felt really good to get moving again! Being sick a few weeks back took so much out of me and it just took a long time to feel good again. Now I'm back to (what passes for) normal.

Finished the back of Mom's sweater last night and started on the sleeve, which I will work on at tonight's Stitch-n-Bitch. Funny, I was doing a sleeve there last week, too. People will think I only make sleeves! I was contemplating trying to do both sleeves at once, as suggested on the knitblogs list, but I didn't want to carry all that yarn and all that (eventual) sleeve with me everywhere, so I am doing them one at a time. I am debating whether to try and finish this for Mother's Day, or save it for her birthday, June 11. I suppose time will decide for me. I'm sort of leaning towards the birthday, just because if I give it now for Mother's Day, anything I give for the birthday will be anticlimactic, don't you think?

I also have to get those baby blocks done soon, as Tracy will be giving birth in the next few weeks, though I won't see her right away. Those are more of a sit at home project, since the intarsia requires chart-reading and concentration, as well as several different colors of yarn, making it (once again) too much trouble to carry around.

I promised photos from the Cherry Blossom Festival last night, and I'm only 12 hours late.



Some of the pretty cherry blossoms - the photos hardly do them justice.

Little fishies in the lily pool (no lilies yet).

The happy couple in the bluebell wood. We're loving the new camera with the variable-angle LCD monitor that swings out so you can take pics of yourself!

The gratuitous kissie shot.

Phew, what a morning. At 5pm Friday some hell broke loose on a project here, and we had to clean up the mess and have a "let's be a team again" meeting. This project has been @$%ed for quite a while, though I only got involved a month or so ago, so I mostly listened. I was really impressed that my boss handled it so well - I am so happy to be working for him. I've worked for some awful people in the past (well, nice people, lousy managers) and this is so refreshing!

Kinda pressed for time, so I'll give you the quick summary - cherry blossoms were beautiful, pics to come later tonight. And I finished the lilac cardigan! Well, except for weaving in a few ends and sewing on a button. It looks pretty good, though I think it needs a wash to maybe soften it up a bit. I noticed my swatch of the Summer Tweed was softer and nicer post-washing, so I will probably do that before I take pics and stuff. So, try and be patient and go on with your lives while you anxiously await the photos.