Coquille is cooking right along

Here are a few new pictures of Coquille. This is turning out to be an easy pattern to remember, a quick knit. I look forward to wearing this in the fall. The weight of this yarn (Mini Moochi in Violet Rainbow) will be perfect for the fall and winter in Washington, DC.

Coquille already had a do-over

About 6 inches into my new scarf project Coquille I realized I was reading the pattern wrong, missing a few of the short-row gussets. So I pulled it out last night, but it was okay, I had messed up the very beginning, too, so this was my chance to fix it. This pattern is easy to remember, something I really appreciate so I can watch TV and knit without having to stop and look at the pattern.

Here's a picture pre-frog to show how the color of this yarn (Mini Moochi Violet Garden) is striping. I studied a number of pictures on the Internet to get a good idea of how these colors would come together.

I think a single color yarn with a value change would look really nice, too, like dark blue to lighter blue or dark gray to silver.

Help Bethesda (Md.) Central Farm Market Be America’s Favorite Farmers Market!

It’s summertime and that means two things: 1) There are loads of delicious farm fresh produce available at Bethesda (Md.) Central Farm Market farmers market every week; and 2) American Farmland Trust’s America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest has kicked into gear and we need your votes to win!

The process is simple. To vote for our market, all you have to do is:

1.) Go to www.farmland.org/vote

2.) Type in Bethesda Central Farm Market; and,

3.) Click “Vote”

That’s it. That’s all it takes to bring Bethesda Central Farm Market one step closer to being America’s favorite farmers market!

Now American Farmland Trust has introduced leader boards where you can keep track of the Top 5 markets receiving votes in Maryland.

Want to support multiple markets in Maryland, Virginia, or D.C.? Search by state and you can vote for more of your favorites - just remember, you only have one vote to cast per market!

According to American Farmland Trust (AFT), the purpose of this contest is to re-connect local consumers to local farms, with the ultimate goal of keeping our nation’s farm and ranch land productive and healthy! Buying at the farmers market keeps money in the local community and helps farms and ranches remain economically viable. By voting, you’re helping support farms and communities across the nation. As American Farmland Trust says, “No Farms No Food™!”

So don’t forget to vote forBethesda Central Farm Market at www.farmland.org/vote and spread the word!

New project for fall

After browsing the Summer Knitty, I found a scarf that I love - Coquille. It looks pretty quick, too. I really like the way to yarn stripes, it will really enhances the colors in the yarn. I will be using Mochi Mini in Violet Garden.

There is a meetup group that knits at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum that I have been wanting to join, but I have not had an easily transportable project! (One small detail.) Once the yarn arrives in the mail, I will be all ready.

I don't knit very much in the summer because the yarn gets so hot and scratchy. Do you have the same problem? I can't even imagine wearing a wool sweater when it is in the 90s and humid. Ugh. So my desire to knit is gone. This is also the time to start on Christmas knitting. Dad needs a new scarf. I made him one a few years ago, which really did not turn out all that great, too short, not wide enough, but he still wears it! How flattering.

Koala collar to big

I added the collar to Koala Cardigan last night to realize that is was too wide, it was too thick and chunky for the sweater. So I reduced the CO to 15 (from 20) and will see if that looks better. I won't finish this weekend like I had hoped, but this is time well spent.

All in good time

Back to the knitting! I am slacking, badly. This really great, easy sweater I was all psyched to wear this winter - this cold and very snowy winter in D.C. - is still laying on my livingroom floor. I thought, "If I put it in the way, I will get tired of stepping over it and finish the darn thing." Not. But you all know how that goes.

I have been using my time constructively though. I have been exploring my highly sensitive personality and working on myself. I guess this all started last summer when I went to Kripalu for a yoga retreat. And then I tried a therapist. And then I found Jenna Avery on the Internet, by accident, or so I thought. And then I read "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life" to get my condo feng shui in order. So this is all unfolding as it should. I was waiting for the bolt of lightening that would bring all of the clarity I am seeking, but that's not coming. All in good time. That is my new mantra.

So before I get started on my new project, Geodesic cardigan, (in the winter/spring Knitscene) by Connie Chang Chinchio - she has some great designs - I am going to finish this cardigan this weekend. Promise.

Weekend Yoga Retreat

I was at Kripalu this weekend, something I have been wanting to do for a long time. The planning all came together, with my being in RI w/my parents for a few days earlier in the week.

It was amazing. But the funny part is that I really did not appreciate the experience until I was in the car Sunday afternoon, driving back to the airport in Providence. This calm came over me and I felt so relaxed. My breathing was so clear.

The workshop teacher was Cyndi Lee, from Om Yoga in NYC. I had never heard of her before, but many of the people in the class knew who she was and there were a few people in the class who take classes at the studio in New York. She took a great picture of the class when were finished for the weekend, totally spent but completely renewed. Well, I was anyway.

It's starting to look like something

I am over here today, plugging away at Auburn Camp Shirt.

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!

Paperback book swap

Have you seen PaperbackSwap.com? I actually came across it on Ravelry because they have a group. It's pretty cool, and I received my first book today! If you have piles of books around and don't know what to do with them, here's an option. Load your titles-it's easy, you just enter the ISBN-and start swapping. I had two requests w/in the first 5 days.

Check it out.

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.

Will I ever finish this project

I gave myself the deadline of last weekend to finish the Auburn Jacket because I was going to NH to see my college friends to celebrate our 40th birthday. I bought the yarn at Charlotte's Web on my last trip there, in the spring. But I was one sleeve short of finishing. And it was only a short-sleeve! I am kind of mad at myself. I just want to be done with it already!

So now I have no motivation to finish a spring-ish sweater as winter approaches.

The weekend was fun, it was great to get away. We went to Boston and did some shopping at Downtown Crossing and some eating in the North End.

My next project is a cute cardigan w/o buttons. And I am chipping away at this, from Knitty, in a dark gray heather silk blend:

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

Effing Twitter

Rant warning: I am not usually a complainer, well not out loud anyway. But my recent experience with effing Twitter has to be shared as a warning.

These new features pop up weekly and they claim to be the greatest thing ever, until there is a problem. And then they turn into the worst thing ever because customer service does not exist on the Internet. You think the cashier at Macy’s is rude, but at least there is a breathing person there. With the Internet, there isn’t anyone there. Just some self-serving FAQs that help no one and a HELP screen that is just the opposite.

I am attending a conference this week, my peers in the association world. Trying to keep up with the latest in technology, I decided to play along with the effing Twitter group that was set up for attendees. I followed the instructions and bingo, I start getting text messages.

So it’s fun for about half a day when I decide, ‘OK, I tried it, not for me.’ I don’t really like texting, I don’t know any of these people (there I just outted myself, I am not a Millennial), but now I understand how this service works. I log onto effing Twitter to turn off my device (read: cell phone) to make it stop. But no, they just keep coming.

Cripes, what do I do now? And to make matters worse, I am blocked at work from entering the site so I have to wait until I get home to figure this out. As the messages keep on coming. And I am paying for every last one of them.

Next I block all of the people who are following me and stop following the meeting that was set up. And I reply with “off” as effing Twitter has suggested somewhere on the site. I am frantically trying to get it to stop. And then I try making it stop my replying “Stop.” All the while I am getting replying to the effect of you, “You have requested messaging to stop.”

Well, yes effing Twitter I have, but you don’t seem to understand STOP.

This has been going on for 4 days now and my level of frustration is off the charts. In my Google-searching for help from someone else who may have had this problem, I find this site Get Satisfaction. Have you seen this? Users can post questions, ideas, problems, and supposedly an employee from said company will help you out. I will try anything at this point (Sat. night at about 12:30). I pound out my question.

Next stop, Sprint.com. I wonder if my carrier be of any help here. Miracle, they can block text messages. I am ready to cry. I love Sprint. I love Sprint. I love Sprint. Problem solved, no more messages from effing Twitter.

To follow up on Get Satisfaction: I had a response to my query this AM from “Mark.”

Whatever. I hate Twitter.

I'm over here tonight

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?

working the brain cells

1. Soda and Lemon Anyone?, 2. green eggs & ham, 3. Tchaikovsky - Nutcracker, 4. One with nature, 5. KATerpillar, Konverter, Konquerer, Klown, Kryptik, Kone, King, Kreep, Kommunikator, Krane, Konnoisseur ... whatever you want, yet I don´t like Kats - namly Kartoon-Kats! -, you know I´m too much a Naturefriend, a Realist, for such plushy Surfaces!, 6. All-Star Women Team @ Tuxpan de Bolaños, Jalisco, 7. profiteroles, 8. Mirror Lake . Fiordland . New Zealand, 9. Untitled, 10. Branches, 11. Algida Luxor Cruiser ; ))), 12. Before the world was made… the innerlight of Sarah.K was!!! :)))

This was kind of fun, kind of challenging. It took me way longer than it probably should have, but with the learning curve and all... Plus, I don't think Blogger was the easiest way to do this. (Can anyone offer any suggestions on using code in the body of the blog? I could not figure out how to add the graphic once it was complete. The were a few options for sharing in Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker but none were for the graphic. I though using the HTML code was by best option but I don't know how to get Blogger to read the code in body of the post. Am I making any sense?)

I saw this on myafinari posts and thought it looked like fun. So I memed myself. Can you do that??

Here are the questions with my answers in parenthesis. (I couldn't change the order of the pics in Big Labs either. I am a dinosaur!!)

1. Favorite drink? (lemon soda)
2. What is your favorite color? (green)
3. Your flickr name (Advancing the Plot)
4. One Word to describe you. (Independent)
5. What do you love most in life? (my freedom)
6. What you want to be when you grow up? (be well known for what I do)
7. Favorite dessert? (profiteroles)
8. Dream vacation? (New Zealand)
9. Who is your celebrity crush? (George)
10. What high school did you go to? (Cumberland HS)
11. What is your favorite food? (ice cream)
12. What is your first name? (Sarah)

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.

No Democracy for D.C. Soldiers

Bluegrass at the Birchmere

I saw a great show last night at the Birchmere in Alexandria.

Chatham County Line, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Crooked Still formed the the pseudo-Folk Festival. It was great fun! I love bluegrass, surprising for a northerner, and these 3 bands were fabulous.

Chatham County Line was the closest thing to old fashioned bluegrass so they were my favorite. They are good looking, young, very talented guys who are having a lot of fun. "One More Minute" is a beautiful song.

The Stringdusters was another bunch of good looking, talented guys, a whole bunch of them, but they were more country-pop. Enjoyable but not really my kind of music. Many of the band members play other types of music and play in other bands, including a gospel singer, so they had tremendous range in style.

Rounding out the bill was Crooked Still, yet another bunch of good looking people, girls included, talented musicians. I would characterize them as contemporary bluegrass. The cello was a big surprise and added a hint of meloncholy to the music.

Wonderful live music. They are in Philadelphia tonight and then on to NYC.