Seaming this weekend

My goal is to finish seaming the Auburn Camp Shirt this long weekend.

I finished knitting more than a month ago, before Christmas I think, but the finishing on this sweater seemed so daunting. It involves sewing seams and also more knitting, like the collar and the cuffs on the sleeves.

But I am tired of finishing sweaters at the end of their season. I want to wear this in the spring!Wish me luck!

I am not a joiner, but...

Here's some progress on Hey, Teach. I have figured out how to read a chart, but that doesn't mean I am not knitting each row 1 and a half times! Grrrr. But I HAVE figured out where I have made my error so I don't have to frog the entire row. There I go, looking at the positive.




I also joined Ravelry yesterday. So visit me there. I was resistant at first because I am not a joiner. In fact, I am usually repelled by the trends. But I was tired of being sent to Ravelry by bloggers that I read to see patterns, finished projects, and the like , only be blocked because I was not a member.

Election Levity

I have been politics-free for the past month or so now. Living in Washington, D.C. probably does not help. Life is so nice with out all of that ridiculousness. I highly recommend it.

But this could not go by without sharing - McCain and Obama fingerpuppets.

Pattern is at www.lionbrand.com

Hey, Teach

I received the elann.com sale email today, one of my favorites I have to say. Even if I am not too tempted, I like to see the yarns that are out there and ON SALE!

But I have had this sweater on my mind (Hey, Teach from the summer Knitty) for a few weeks now.


This looks really cute, wearable for multi-seasons, can be dressed up or down. Living in the mid-Atlantic, I am always looking for something lightweight to wear outside when it is just a little cool. And it doesn't have loooong sleeves to knit. I get so bored with sleeves!!

I chose this tweedy silk in granite











I also came across their list of free patterns I thought I would share. Like recipes, I have a little obsession with free knitting patterns. I have a hard time organizing them, outside of a 3-ring binder.

Still plugging away on the Auburn Camp Shirt. Watching the Olympics is a great reason to sit there and knit. Or is it the other way around?

Bird-be-Gone

I found a new use for knitting needles


There is a pigeon, or more specifically a Mourning Dove, who is trying to build a nest among my herbs. I scared her off the other day and dismantled the start of the nest. But she came back! So I stuck a few pencils in the area near the lemon basil that she was nesting.

And she came back again, resting near the oregano and sage.

So I was thinking, What will repel the bird?

Knitting needles of course!

I quit my community garden plot a few years ago because I was tired of fighting the deer because they won every time. Now I am fighting off birds in the window boxes! Sheesh.

The next level of blogging

My first meme, I am so flattered (thanks Deb!).

Ok, here goes. More about me than you ever wanted to know.

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was living in a group house in Glover Park, finding my way in my new life in D.C. I was having fun, hanging out with friends, doing happy hours, cook-outs, playing flag football and left field on the company softball team.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
I don't keep actual lists because I then forget to look at them! But rolling around in the back of my head: get in touch with Sophie to meet up for dinner Wed. or Thurs.; practice using the new camera; finish the left front of the Auburn Campshirt; set the alarm for 4:45 AM so I can get to the airport in time for my 7AM flight home from Austin; and decide whether to call Paul or not and then just stick to it.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Edamame; ice cream; cookies; Triscuits; dark chocolate.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
start a foundation.

5) Places I have lived: Rhode Island; Boston; Austria; Brookline.

6) Jobs I have had:
cashier; museum assistant; nanny; in the library during college.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:
Pink Monkey Knits
Yarngear
A Knitter in Queens
What Liz Said
Neophyte Knitter

A little of this...

In the knitting category, I recently joined the Auburn Camp Shirt KAL.








FilmFest DC continued last night with "Fados" and "Late Bloomers." These movies could not have been more different, but in a good way. "Fados" was a look at all of variations of the Fados tradition in Portugal, Brazil, and other Portuguese-speaking countries. It consisted of vignettes of singers and dancers performing. I enjoyed the singing, Fados is so melancholy, but live performing never translates fully to the screen, be it a movie or TV. It's like taking a picture of a sunset, unless you saw it yourself, it does not have the same impact on the viewer.

"Last Bloomers" was in the same tradition of "Calendar Girls," some older woman who are depressed with their lives buck up and make a change - one that shocks their friends and neighbors. Martha lost her husband and prays that God will take her, too, in her sleep. No such luck. But a conversation with her friends reveals that when she was much younger she was an accomplished lingerie designer and sewer. A trip to a fabric shop brings back the fire and she decides to make the sundries shop she and her husband had run for many years in their little town in the Swiss Alps into "Petit Paris," a lingerie shop. The town is scandalized but the women prevail. It was cute.

Before the movie, Carol and I ate at Poste, in the Hotel Monaco. Have you been?

It was the menu was what hung us up. It is categorized by where the food comes from (The Garden, The Pasture, etc.) which was clever but not very helpful. More importantly for me, The Washington Post's description of the prices at $$ is too low. The entrees were $23++. But the menu was mainly appetizer-type dishes, a ratio of at least 3 to 1, at $13-$24. Is the intent a tapas menu? And it was heavy on cheese. I love good cheese, but I am not going to order ricotta and goat for dinner. My friend and I got 2 apps for dinner (the squash blossoms were excellent), no drinks or dessert, and the bill was $51. A little steep for what we got. The food was fine, the ambiance, too, but I was a little let down. There are better places to eat in DC with more ambiance and more food for the $$.

New Projects

I have a couple of projects I am working on.

The first is the Auburn Camp Shirt found in the Spring 2008 issue of Interweave Knits. I found this beautiful yarn (at left) at Charlotte’s Web in Epping, NH, a couple of weekends ago when I made a quick trip up north for my friend Heather’s 40^th birthday (more on that later). The yarn is Olympic from Artful Yarns. It was the color range that caught me – deep pinks, a little purple, melon, and the strands are really different, too, giving the yarn a lot of texture. The pictures don’t do it justice, unfortunately.

The second is a simple pullover sweater from a pattern in Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns. I am adapting the pullover with a rollband color and cuffs, but I tried to give it a little shape at the waist. We’ll see how that worked. The yarn is TLC Cotton Plus, a cotton and acrylic blend that is really nice for inexpensive yarn. I like the stretch the acrylic gives this yarn because cotton can be so stiff to knit. I bought it quite a few years ago because I really liked the color combination, very springy, with blues, purples, greens, yellows, all tempered by white.

The big birthday

Most of my college crowd is turning 40 this year. Myself included, although I am the last to turn that corner because my birthday is in December. I guess that makes me the baby!

Heather’s birthday was supposed to be a surprise but her family had to tell her because they feared they would not get her over to the Inn. She did not know who was going to be there or any of the details so I think she was surprised. It was so much fun seeing my friends, yarn shopping with Deb, the complete change of scenery I needed so badly.

When the party was winding down, we got a group together to go to a small club nearby to hear some live music. Heather’s older brother was leading the charge as we were not that excited to go out, but out of support for Heather, Deb and I soldiered on. The club was jumping, surprising for a beach community in Maine in late March, packed with people. We squeezed our way through the crowded bar and dance floor to an open space to watch the band. And it slowly started to dawn on Heather, Deb, and I that we were in the movie “Cocoon.” Everybody, including the band, was 60+, dressed up, coiffed, metroed out, on the dance floor, singing along from their tables. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. God bless the baby boomers. It was poignant with Heather turning 40. I realized that age is relative and it was kind of fun looking like high school kids crashing the party. (And I met the mother of a blogger that Heather told me about a couple of years ago, so if you’re reading, HI!)

I truly believe that my life gets better as I get older, but there are some milestone birthdays that make me cringe. Well, maybe that word is too strong. They make me stop and think about where I am. (And then I cringe.) Twenty-five was the first one, then 30, and now 40. I surely don’t feel anywhere near 40. When I turned 39 in December I decided this was going to be the Year of Sarah. Nothing is holding me back, and it is all topped off with my trip to Turkey in June.

Just yesterday, a new colleague, Melanie, mentioned that she is turning 25 in October and she is a little bothered by it. I could so relate, I remember how hard it was to turn 25 because I did not feel as mature or accomplished as I thought I should be. I remember now how desperately I wanted to get away from my life at that time. I felt so trapped in my job that I loved but was going nowhere and trapped living with my parents in RI. And that winter was a record snowfall so that was making me miserable. Alas, there were lots of good things too, like I had room to quilt at my parents house, I really miss that, and I had a car so I drove all over to see my friends far and near. And it was that desperation that got me to move to D.C. and that is all good.

Around DC

It is Yoga Week in DC so here is your chance to try yoga for the first time or to take advantage of a bunch of free or $5 classes around the metro area.

FilmFest DC starts in a couple to weeks, too. I spend way too much time making a spreadsheet of the movies I want to see.

Baby sweater

I just finished knitting my first-ever baby sweater. It is so cute, I giggle every time I look at it. This is for my friend at work who is due in June with her first baby. Not knowing what the sex is, I chose this gender neutral and oh-so-hip Granny Smith apple green Lion Brand organic cotton. The pattern was free, too.

I see so much cute baby stuff to knit but I have not had the opportunity to make anything because no one in my close circle is having babies, I think they are all done with that! So this was really fun.

Inspiration Found

I was browsing around the magazines at Border's while Madison was here and saw the Spring Interweave Knits on the shelf. I was psyched because I saw 2 projects that I really like. Just my speed: simple, little frill, fitted, minimal.

Here is Mirabella

I am picturing this in a heathered gray, silver if you will.

And Auburn Camp Shirt


I am picturing this in a sage green or a lavender purple with some texture. This is knit with a wool silk blend so I will check out my color options.

Like I have the money for this! Every week I remind myself how expensive this year is going to be - already! I have my trip to Turkey, Madison was just here, my 40th b'day in Charleston this fall, the annual pilgrimage to York Beach right after Labor Day, I would like to see my friend in NYC again. All wonderful reasons to spend money, and not a penny will be wasted, but this is all happening in one year. When it rains it pours in my life. Never fails.

And I have so much fun stuff to look forward to! Just no eating out this year and I have made a pact with myself not buy any clothes for 6 months.

Red Scarf Project update

I was so happy to finish my first Red Scarf Project scarf, all ready to squeeze the second one out before the Jan. deadline. But I just found out on the Web site that the project is closed for this year. Scarves will be accepted from Sept. 1 through Oct. 15, 2008. Oh well, I am glad the project is so successful.

Now I can start on a new project although I find starting something new daunting sometimes. So many ideas, where do I begin?

Other exciting news is that I hope to get the new LCD for my laptop today so I can try to replace it and get back online at home. I love when I can figure things out on my own -- and save myself $250!

I heart Doris Day movies

Sweater Progress

I finished the first sleeve last night. This is a really great pattern if you are looking for a
cardigan. It is easy to follow and you can alter the length and width pretty easily to fit you. And trying it on as I go is great for getting the right fit and the right sleeve length.

Movies
I watched "A Touch of Mink" last night, starring Doris Day and Cary Grant. I love Doris Day movies. She's plays the innocent young single woman from the midwest trying to make it in New York City so well. The blantant sexism is this Doris Day movie in particular was both funny and disturbing. In 2007 we look at this type of movie very differently than men and women did when the movie was made in 1962. One big shocker for me was Cathy (Day) and Mr. Shayne (Grant) going on vacation together and they weren't married. This movie straddles a lot of social mores and was probably racy when it came out. There are a lot of things that made me scratch my head, but the biggest one was the fact that she called him Mr. Shayne!

Knitting and snark

Here's the progress on the Top Down Raglan.



This sweater is customizable: buttonholes, shaping, sleeve length, body length. I bought this yarn (Queensland Collection, Katmandu DK) when I was in Nags Head this summer, $7 a ball, and I love the color and feel. It is wool, cashmere, and silk and feels perfect for this cardigan. I am breezing along. The pattern is really easy. This is my first foray into buttonholes and they aren't nearly as scary as I thought they would be. I bind off 2 stitches and then cast them back on the next row.

I took a drive to Frederick, Md., today to poke around and do some Christmas shopping. There are some really nice stores in the downtown, art galleries, restaurants, coffee shops. Its fun to browse.

One present for me was "I Bitch, Therefore I Am." Have you seen this new theme of books and cards? The writers use images from old advertising from the 50s and 60s, mostly of women coiffed, pearled, and high-heeled, in the kitchen beeming with joy over the fact that they are cooking and cleaning for their families. They are paired with snarky, sarcastic, histerical captions. They are the funniest things EVER. And they don't get old, no matter how many times you read them. Another really funny line is by Anne Taintor. Here's one example of the snark:


It reads the tree wouldn't be the only one getting lit this year

When I was with my college friends this summer, Becky introduced us to these books. We were laughing so hard, tears rolling down our faces. The husbands didn't really get it, and the kids were perplexed at what was making all the ladies so hysterical.

Do I really need another scarf?

I have finished my open wave lace scarf, and I love it. The pattern is unique, which I always look for in a scarf, although I would not call it lace necessarily. And the colors in the yarn look pretty cool. I think I might try this pattern with a solid color yarn, it will probably look very different.

I am also working on a couple of buttonhole bags for Christmas gifts. I started the second one watching “Ugly Betty” last night and should be able to finish it by the end of the weekend.

Movies
I saw "American Gangster" last weekend to celebrate my friend's birthday. We tried to go to bowling at Lucky Strike but there was a 2 hour wait for a lane. Whatever! The movie was very good, great characters and storyline. A little violent, though. "The Kingdom" was the same: great story but pretty violent. Is it me, or are the movies getting violent again?

I always wonder where the movie producers get the cars and other paraphernalia, like office equipment, clothes, shoes, from the period of the movie. Like the late-60s and early-70s depicted in "AG." It is so important to the telling of the story.

On the sticks

This is a fun scarf I have been working on here and there. I bought this yarn (Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe) in Asheville over the summer knowing I wanted to make a scarf. I thought that would have been something along the lines of this Zig-Zag scarf, minus the color change, or something similarly diagonal. I did not really like the way the color of this yarn was working, but I did want something more daring than a straight rib because I really like this yarn and wanted to do it justice.

This pattern is called open wave lace, from The Complete Book of Knitting by Barbara Abbey. I found this book a few years ago at a used bookstore for $2.00 and it is such a great resource.

On a completely different note, I was downtown shopping today after my volunteering gig at the American Art Museum and saw a shockingly ugly cross dresser. It was like your father put on a pretty turquoise flouncy skirt, matching sleeveless blouse, the sneakers he wears when he mows the grass, your mother's ugliest pink lipstick, his handbag, and he's ready for a day downtown. If you want to dress like a woman put some effort into it please! Besides my freight, I had a very good shopping day.

Gift knitting

I am planning on making some felted bags for Christmas gifts this year. My experiment with the French Market bag was a success this summer so I will continue felting. There are so many neat things out there including these flower embellishments. People are so clever. I am always amazed and inspired.

This time I am going to try the Buttonhole Bag from Mason Dixon Knitting. Here is some yarn I bought when I was in vacation in the Outer Banks a few weeks ago. I like the heathered colors, I think that will give the solid felted fabric some depth and interest.

First Felted Bag

Knitting

Here’s my finished French Market Bag. Isn’t is cool? I am really excited about this felting thang. I am thinking Christmas presents.

Here’s the before picture so you can see how much is shrunk. Pretty dramatic.

When I was in RI last week I used my mother’s washing machine to perform my first felting experiment. I would say it was a success. I feared that the two purples that I chose were too subtle next to each other but they aren’t at all in the finished piece.

While this whole thing was easy to knit and the felting is cool, the shape of this bag is not going to be that useful for me I don’t think. The sides aren’t really that high and the straps aren’t long enough.

But next time I will know how to alter the pattern. I also think the next time I will hand felt which will give me more control. The washing machine was pretty rough and I left it in about 8 minutes, a little longer than I had wanted, but I got distracted watching “What Not to Wear.”

Love that show. And the few episodes I caught when I was getting my fill of cable TV at my parents house featured very willing and cooperative participants. Sometimes they are awful, kicking and screaming through every step, from new clothes, to hair, to makeup. Jeez, they are making you over, have fun with it.

Dating

Well, I think I am inadvertently online dating again.

In my daily scouring I regularly saw a post on Craigslist for Seeking Intellectually Curious Who Love Fine Arts? Have you seen it?

So I click on the above mentioned post to find intellectconnect.com, a new free online dating and friending site. I questioned whether I was smart enough for these potential dates. But I jumped in (I think the FREE was the hook I needed), created a profile, and then kind of forgot about it. Until I got a response a couple of weeks ago from a man who seems charming, nice, looking for friends, likes cultural pursuits, lives nearby in Woodley Park. So we are meeting next week for a beer.

I say inadvertently because this past spring when Gabriel just simply stopped calling and returning my calls, after a year of dating, I decided to take a break. So my focus has been on meeting people to do things with, like hiking, museums, going out to dinner, all the things you do with a boyfriend but without the complications of actually having to consider another person. (Yikes that sounds selfish. But you get my point.)

So I met that group of women on Craigslist and I have become involved in MeetInDC and meetup.com, and a few other things. And it’s all coming together, the work is paying off and I am meeting some new people and have some fun things on my calendar.

Like tomorrow I am going to Gettysburg with the Capital Hiking Club. I have never been to a Civil War site – shame on me, living in the South and all. I don’t know anyone on the trip, but that’s part of the adventure. I have an introverted personality so I have to force myself to do social things by myself. This will be a good exercise for me.

Just for laughs, I recently trolled around match.com, the old stompin’ ground, and all I saw were the same old faces, reading the same old profiles (“I am comfortable in a jean and a tux,” “I SCUBA dive and climb mountains, all in the same day,” “Looking for my soul mate as long as she looks like a super model”) so I give up on the online dating scene.

I had fun over the many years on match, met tons of men, went out on tons of dates, but I am done with that.

Bookmark review

Every once in a while I check in with my lengthy knitting blogs bookmarks. If there hasn’t been an activity in a couple of months I delete it, knowing that is will be replaced by something equally as entertaining.

So here are some of the highlights of this evening’s tour:

A quilt made out of leftover sock yarn at Mya Finari Posts

SaunShine has moved to NYC to follow her dream of fashion design

I always enjoy seeing what the Knit Smiths are up to

Ysolda is so eloquent,

I’m still in love with the fabric that the Rowan Bamboo Soft makes, even if the splitting is a total pain in the arse. But it feels like a much loved, well worn t-shirt.

Sweaters for Squirrels – this is good for a guffaw

I am disappointed with the Daily Knitter, the new site from Interweave. There isn’t anything there, really, that I have not already found somewhere else. And the free patterns are weak. I will give it a little time, but if there’s no improvement in the depth of content .

This finished Sunrise Circle Jacket is gorgeous, such attention to detail, such a great fit.

Vida is muerta.

Or at least crooked. The needle layed across the front shows how crooked it is. Yikes!

How did this happen? Could it be the reverse stockinette? I am scratching my head. I rinsed it in water and blocked it but I am not convinced that will solve my problem. I am going to query the KnitList. They know just about everything about knitting. (Amazing wealth of knowledge on that listserv.) And I really don’t want to start the front if I have to change something dramatic to make it symmetrical.

I bought some sale yarn from elann.com this week. This Highland Peruvian Wool (in Dusky Purple and Wisteria) is for my first French Market Bag (free pattern here). I have been wanting to try felting for a long time now, but I think my block has been a lack of a washing machine that I can control (I use the machines in my condo).

I know I can hand-felt but the machine looks a lot easier. So in a couple of weeks I am going to R.I. to see my parents, and celebrate my mother’s 70^th b’day, so I am going to try it out on her machine. Now the pressure to get the back knit in time. I also hope the colors aren't too subtle. I didn't want to the obnoxious color-scheme route because this bag is kind of large.

There is a nice gallery of finished bags here. Too bad the blog owner isn't still posting finished pics.

I also bought Berocco “Hip Hop” on sale for $5.25 a skein. I love the colorway of this yarn, my pictures don’t do it justice. I might try felting a swatch of this to see what happens to the colors, if they melt together in an interesting way, or not.

Fun in D.C.

Yesterday was Smithsonian day. It’s Folklife Festival time here in D.C. and I had more fun than I thought I would. I did my regular volunteering gig in the morning at the Freer Gallery and stuck around, got some lunch – ugh, 30 minutes in the Mekong Delta food line – which took the edge off the maddening food line, and hung around to listen to some live folk music.

I heard some great bluegrass (Whitetop Mountain Band) and got my fill of all types of Irish music including my favorite Highland pipes. Robert Watt was great and very dramatic with his bald head and funky glasses. Four Guys and a Dog were great, too, go see them if you can. Fun, lively, toe-tapping, people out on the dance floor, they had the tent rocking.

Welcome Summer

It was a beautiful night to welcome summer at Alliance Française La Fete de la Musique. Can you get over this weather? Three of the C-list girls and I went to sip wine and listen to a wide range of music. It was fun, mixing with French-speaking people from around the world. Two of the acts played outside which was lovely.

Knitting

I am still ripping out the Tivoli top. All of the decreases are now causing me to pull all of the ripped out yarn through on stitch. It’s maddening so I only do a few inches a night.

Elann.com is having a sale on some wool, $2.25 a ball, so I am going to knit up a French Market Bag (free pattern from Knitty) and bring it to R.I. when I go in July to felt in my mother’s washing machine. I don’t have control over the cycles on the machines in my building. Amanda’s squatty sidekick is another cute (free pattern) bag I might try - and I am also thinking Christmas gifts. I am dieing to felt! And the color selection of this sale yarn is huge.

Young Dave Follow up

When you last read, Ellen McCarthy, writer for the Post, responded to my request for Dave’s email, after I saw him in last week’s Weekend Section. She did not have his email address so she called him, above and beyond the call of duty, and told him I had gotten in touch with her and she gave him my email. As the days drifted by I thought I would not hear from him. Et viola, yesterday he send me a sweet message. So it was good to hear from him and my goal was completed, simply to say hello, glad you are doing well.