She’s in love… She’s got a new man… Well no… What’s his name?

Before we went down to DC I went to the Spinning Study Group of Long Island to see if spinning is really something I would like to try. A few months ago I bought a spindle and have been playing around with it (I know I’m a bad blogger I should have blogged about this a while ago) but I wasn’t sure if I had the hang of it. Well I met Ann there and she let me try her Lendrum double treadle wheel with a WooLee winder… I’m in love. I just could not believe how much fun I was having working on that wheel. So I’m starting to put some money away little by little and hopefully should have a wheel by my birthday. I still need to clear out a spot for it in the apartment and show my sweetie that it really won’t take up too much room in our already overcrowded one bedroom apartment.

On the way to and from DC I finished this

Waving Lace socks by Evelyn A. Clark from Favorite Socks in Panda Wool Rosewater. I was originally knitting this sock in STR “Queen Rock” but the yarn was a little too busy for the pattern. I think Queen Rock would look better as “Summer of Love Lace” the new pattern from the Rockin Sock Club.

This year I have been really slacking on knitting the sock club shipments. Last year I finished all the socks in the patterns they came with before the new year started. This year I haven’t finished a single one! This month’s shipment (don't click if you want to be surprised) looks more suited for Monkeys. Firebird is destined for Fawkes; Inside outs in Monsoon are hibernating for a little while and I think that I will make a shawl from Walking on the Wild Tide. I think that I will have enough to knit Elann's Luna Moth Shawl.

I have a FO to show off tomorrow when it dries and some sweater progress to report.
Ps. Don’t worry those finger prints on the wall is just paint.
Pps. I’m trying to see how long I can keep up using Rent lyrics as titles for my posts.

But you'll miss New York before you can unpack

Hubby and I decided that we needed a mini vacation and went down to D.C. to visit a good friend. Our friend A. left Long Island to attend G.W. University and never came back to Long Island. He comes up during holidays and every now and then we go down to visit. I LOVE walking around the city at night, there aren’t as many tourists around the monuments and the views are just breathtaking. Look at this:








I think that the WWII monument might be my favorite, especially at night. However this comes a close second:





The F.D.R Monument is just beautiful at night with all the waterfalls.

What kind of librarian would I be if I didn’t see this:




These places weren’t too shabby either:






Scott and I went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Zoo. Here are some of my favorites from those two places.












We also went to the Nats v. Mets game and found these guys just outside the stadium:


These guys frighten me a little bit:


Speaking of frightening doesn’t this look like it could be a scene from the Shinning?

Come play with us forever and ever….

I can see how he fell in love with that city.

Look its Santa Claus

When I came home from work today there were multiple packages waiting for me! The most important package was the one from my Sockapalooza Pal Shelly.

It came all the way from Canada and look how she decorated the package. This little kitty sticker looks a lot like my little Stitch, especially the way that she has been sleeping in the heat.


Here’s what I found inside:




Pattern: Yarn Over Cable
Yarn: Paton’s Kroy
They are awesome and fit like a dream. I round up my foot measurement because I wanted to make sure that my toes had a little room and they do. These socks are perfect.

Shelly also included stitch markers she made herself.

They are beautiful.

She also included two skeins of yarn that she was originally going to use but realized that she needed another skein and was afraid that she wouldn’t get it in time.


I’m excited to use this yarn, I’ve never knit with bamboo. The color screams something lacey, maybe Meida’s Socks. This was my first Sockapalooza and I have enjoyed every minute of it I can’t wait for the next one. Thank you so much Shelly for making this a great exchange. Everyone please go over to Shelly and wish her luck in Korea where she will be teaching for a year. Good Luck to you Shelly!

Ps. Luanne received her package, I’m so glad that they fit her.

Take me out

What better way to spend a 100-degree evening than at a baseball game with wool in your lap? Scott and I went to the first (annual maybe?) Stitch N’ Pitch at Shea Stadium on Wednesday night.

(Click for bigger)



I originally wanted to work on a sock that I’ve designed myself called “Norbert” however I forgot to bring the size needle I needed for the heel, I blame the heat.

This pair of socks has seen quite good time lately; I brought them along to Rent with me for the train ride but forgot the needle (I see a theme here) and then they went to Shea. One of these days they will be finished and I will share the pattern with everyone.

Thankfully I threw another project in my bag before I left:




These socks were more a more appropriate color anyway. I absolutely love the way that the yarn (STR in “Sunstone”) and the pattern (Eunny Jang’s “Bayerische sock”) look together. Even Scott always says that these are a cool pair of socks every time I work on them.

Here’s my sweetie having a good time.


This was the first game I’ve been to where the Mets have won! We both had a great time together despite the fact that it was so hot. We also received some nice gift bags with some interesting yarn and great magazines that I did not have. The weather has been disgusting so I can’t get a great picture, maybe this weekend I can get one up of the goodies.
~C

Connection- in an isolating age

I’m still on my little high from seeing Rent the other night. My being smitten with Adam Pascal is an understatement. I could not believe how close we were and how amazing the show was.

I finished my Sockapalooza socks and will be shipping them later today. Working two jobs (I never mention that during the spring I picked up a second job in another library) makes it hard to get to places that close by 5pm. Since I knew that I wasn’t going to make it to the post office on the official sent out date, I made some stitch markers for my pal. I hope she likes everything, she wanted something short and lacey and this pattern just screamed to be made.




Pattern: Meida’s Socks from Favorite socks
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces in “China Blue”
Needles: Addi Turbos in US1
Modifications: Since I used a lighter weight yarn than the pattern calls for I only decreased to 18 sts which makes it even with the lace design. Otherwise I followed the chart which as Grumperina pointed out creates left cross cable instead of a right cross cable.

Here’s a close up of the stitch markers I made for my pal:




Everything is packed and ready to fly its way off to my pal. I hope she enjoys the package.

What was it about that night...

I’ve been MIA again, I am sorry. I finished Harry Potter quite a while ago, in fact it was Harry’s story came to end for me on Sunday July 22, 2007. However that will be another blog post.

Tonight, August 4, my dear sweet loving hubby took me to see Rent, my all time favorite show, even though we have already seen this show twice. What was so special about this performance was that Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp were performing. For those of you who may not be familiar with Rent, both these talented men originated the roles of Roger and Mark, respectively. Adam Pascal is my favorite singer/performer/Broadway star; while my hubby and I were dating we saw Aida expecting to see Mr. Pascal as Radames. However, for some reason he was not at that performance and I was quite disappointed. When my hubby, by chance, saw that both Mr. Pascal and Mr. Rapp were going to be performing in Rent he bought tickets as a present for our one-year wedding anniversary. Not only were these tickets to see this show with these amazing men performing, these tickets were fifth row!

We have never sat this close to a show before. I couldn’t believe it; I was able to see everyone in such detail. I was able to be drawn in with their emotion, laugh at their amusement and cry along with their sorrow. Mr. Pascal’s eyes were deep blue, sparkling while singing. His smile lit up his face and his voice sent chills down my spine. For me, there is no one that can play Roger better than Mr. Pascal. I am truly smitten.

Mr. Rapp was also amazing. The song “What you Own” was the most amazing bit of Broadway that I have even seen. Those two voices were meant for that moment in the show.

There is no day but today.