Grrrr.....

Ripping back BLACK, FINGERING-WEIGHT, yarn!....Grrrr...

I can't blog or post pictures regarding the nature of this project, as it is a gift, but no lighting in the world makes ripping back black fingering weight yarn easy.

Happy Thanksgiving

We successfully hosted Thanksgiving with our friends in our tiny townhouse kitchen...





And for that, I'm thankful.

Married in Las Vegas

Treasure Island
October 13th 2007

Loretta

When you're friendly with your LYS owner, you get introduced to people like Loretta. Loretta, a 75 year old knitter who was looking to get rid of her 50 year collection of Vogue Knitting Magazines. She has health problems and while she still knits, she no longer has use for all of the magazines and was looking to give them to someone who would use them....ME! It's so much fun to look at the magazine articles from the 50's, 60's and 70's...a couple by none other than Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swanson. It's like opening a knitting time capsule.

September Deadline

The baby blankets must be finished by the end of the month. That's it. I can't take it anymore! They're cluttering up my living room and putting a damper on my creativity. Plus, the plans for Christmas knitting have begun and I want/need to get started. But, I can't think about that as long as I'm procrastinating the baby blankets!

Cheer me on, please. I can use all the help I can get!

Yarn Drive

In the spirit of Cast-on's Honor Beads for Grownups I've planned a yarn drive for charity.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Podcasts and Cast-on in particular have jumpstarted me out of my knitting/blogging sabatical. Upon listening to a recent episode Brenda mentioned that the Interim House in Philadelphia could use yarn donations. Rather than just clean out my own stash, I figured it would be fun to invite other knitters, namely my knitting groups to de-stash for a good cause. The Yarn drive will be held on September 29th. If you live in the Philly area and are interested in attending and/or stash-busting for a good cause drop me note.

Food Poisioning

According to Jake, I have a cast iron stomach. I can eat most food and not have any gastrointestinal problems. Knowing that, I ask a lot of my stomach. Yesterday was case in point. It was IPA fest at the Drafting Room. We were meeting a friend at 2pm for "A drink". Yeah. There were 19 different beers on tap, six samples and two hours later I had decided on my drink. During that time, we won a bottle of Rogue's 10th Anniversary beer. We decided that it must be enjoyed "in the moment". At 6 o'clock we decided to go get dinner. We went to a little BYO restaurant (for those who don't know BYO = Bring your own, very popular in states like PA with crazy liquor laws) with a bottle of Le Chouffe Houblon (sp?) quite possibly my favorite beer right now and a bottle of Pinot Noir. Our dinner companions brought with them some of their delicious homemade wine and port for dessert.

Here's where my system decided it'd had enough...

I'm not quite sure if it was the mixture of all the beer/wine of the day or the Thai Peanut Pork or the really rich creampuffs for dessert but my cast iron stomach let me down. I got sick. At the restaurant. At the table (which thankfully we were seated outside and I was in front of a flower bed). On the way home.

Not only was I sick, but very embarrassed!

It was Bad News.

Update: As it turns out, one of our dinner companions (who ordered the exact same meal as I did) also got sick that night. Giving creedence to the fact that it was food poisioning and not the alcohol.

KiP'ing

I was introduced to a new Yarn Shop. It is now my favorite LYS. Although it's not quite local. Catherine introduced me to The Wooly Lamb in Pennington, NJ. (Note: There website is under construction today, but here is a link to a review of the shop from Knitter's Review). The shop is beautiful. For me, the inside is laid out very pleasing...yarn and colors everywhere, but not crammed and cluttered that would make it difficult to shop. Catherine and I spent close to 2 hours just wandering around and looking at all of the yarn. The staff is very helpful and friendly and the displays of knitted garments and samples from all of the yarn is stunning. I could have emptied my entire bank account in this store. But I was good, only buying yarn with projects in mind. My purchase included:

6 hanks of Berroco Ultra Alpaca for my Blaze sweater
2 balls of Hacho Hand-dyed for a chevron scarf (like the one that's been circling the blogosphere)

After our venture to the Wolly Lamb, we drove to Lambertville, NJ and wandered through some of the cute shops there. We crossed the bridge into New Hope, PA and found a bar with outdoor seating and good beer where we whipped out our knitting and enjoyed the glorious weather. Catherine was working on these beautiful beaded scarves, which she generously gave me a pattern for. I began swatching Blaze with my new yarn (yes...I'm going to swatch like a good girl). Two Unibroue Emphemere's later and we were off to meet the boys for dinner.

Heaven.

re-kindling a romance...

I went to knitting last week. I haven't been all summer. But, I went to knitting last week and it felt good! So good, I think I'll go again this week. I haven't knit all summer. I've had projects sitting on the needles, but I haven't had the urge to pick up my pointy sticks all summer long. I think I was a little burnt out. It had become a chore rather than a hobby. Too many obligatory projects (baby blankets, etc.). Not that anyone "made" me knit them a blanket, but you know what I mean. Looking through knitting magazines and online patterns lost it's enjoyment when I knew that in order to cast on a new project I needed to finish not 1 but 3 baby afghans! (I know...I'm a glutton for punishment...3 afghans?!) Combine that feeling with 90 degree heat and ridiculous humidity that the NE experienced all summer and it's a recipe for avoidance.
But, no more. I've embraced my old love like we never missed a beat. I have my Ravelry invitation to thank for that. What? You don't know what Ravelry is? Are living in a cave or with a non-knitter? Ravelry is the new, not yet out of beta, online community for knitters, crocheters and fiber enthusiasts. It is amazing. My favorite feature is the pattern sharing. Being able to see other knitters projects, especially the variations of what I might be working on is particularly fun. It really is an amazing site. Lurking around this site has prompted me to pick up my pointy sticks and continue knitting. And attend my knitting group. And listen to knitting podcasts. And otherwise become completely absorbed in my hobby.
Re-united and it feels so good.....

Stitch n Pitch...and sweat

Tuesday was the Phillies Stitch n Pitch night. Knitters were invited to come out to the ballpark, knit and watch the game. What fun! If you live anywhere in the Northeast, you know. Tuesday's weather was about as un-conducive to knitting as you could get. It was probably around 90 degrees with about 90% humidity. It was hot and sticky, so much so that you could actually see the humidity on the field. It looked foggy. Ugh! There were some troopers...women working on wool sweaters and scarves draped on their laps. I couldn't even stand to work on the cotton socks I brought with me. Instead, I enjoyed the good company, exciting game (Phillies won 11-4) and yummy beer (Flying Fish Summer Ale). Maybe next year the weather will cooperate.

Sharks

Last Saturday I took Jake on and adventure for his birthday. I tried to come up with a "pirate" birthday for an adult. Hmmmm...what's pirate-y? Well....ships (we went to Moshulu for lunch)...

...treasure...he got presents....what about sharks? Pirates have been known to make people walk the plank into shark infested water?....right? Either way, I was taking Jake to see some sharks (Jaws is one of his all time favorite movies, anyway) up close and personal. The Camden Aquarium has a program where you can pay to snorkel with some sharks. FUN!I made the arrangements for us both in secret, since I wanted Jake to be surprised. We had to leave early, since we had a 9:30 am swim time. He thought we were going into the city to spend the day, then as we crossed over the Ben Franklin Bridge, he looked a little nervous. "We're going to New Jersey for my birthday" he said, sounding a little dissapointed. Yes, and Camden at that.

I told him about the adventure when we arrived at the aquarium. He seemed a little nervous. He divulged that he remembered seeing the commercials for swimming with the sharks, and thinking "What moron would do that?" HA-exactly why I didn't tell him ahead of time. As we walked in to the aquarium, they walked us through the main shake exhibit, pointing out the different sharks in the tank. All of a sudden I realized why...these were the sharks we would be swimming with.

Wait a minute....the guy on the phone told me the water was only chest deep? I assumed that they would put us in a pool with some little sharks that we would swim around thinking "hey...look at me I'm swimming with sharks." Nope. We were going in the big tank! All of a sudden I was nervous. We snorkeled around on a shelf at the top of the main shark tank. It was really neat, but a little scary. The sharks came right up to our faces.

It was such a fun adventure!

The Epidemic

Warning! Something seems to be going around. At first it affected a few friends, then a girl at work, then a cousin and now more friends have been bitten by the bug! Babies....it seems like everyone is having a baby. For the parents this is so exciting...however, what's a knitter to do? Hand knit gifts are always nice and usually a lot of fun to knit, but I'm at risk for baby overload! I gotta start speed knitting if I'm ever going to get through all these projects! I hope it isn't contagious!

busy bees

bzzz...bzzz...no time to post....bzzz...bzzz.....still here.....bzzz...bzzzz...bzzz...

Football in April

Today is the day I get a little dose of football in Spring, Draft Day! I love the NFL draft for all the excitement it initiates 5 months before the season starts. I'm going to watch, as I sit on my couch and knit, eat my roast beef sandwich and drink my Rodenbach and enjoy football in spring.

Nor'easter

Today's forecast....No work. This morning I woke up to the sound of wind and rain hitting my bedroom window. I gave myself plenty of time, made a big cup of coffee and out the door I went. It wasn't rain I heard hitting the side of my house, it was hail and snow...in April. What crap! While cleaning off the glue of snow/sleet/rain that covered my car, while myself turning into a drowned rat, I made the executive decision that I wasn't going to go any further. I shuffled back inside, un-packed my lunch and turned on the news, while finishing my coffee. What a mess out there!

My partially cleaned off car...

All work and no play...

I can't believe it has been almost two months since my last post. Where has the time gone? February flew by and now March is halfway over. I have been working like crazy and in my free time I have been trying to plan an October wedding. Things are starting to settle down at work and the wedding plans are coming together so I can start to reclaim my life. My knitting is starting to resume and I have been reading more. Jake and I attended a Wine tasting dinner a couple of weeks ago.

Tonight, is St Patricks Day! We are planning to spend it at a friends house. Happy St. Patty's Day!

Beer for Breakfast

We went to our BJCP class this morning, our first Saturday morning session. I don't think I've mentioned it before, but the boy and I are taking a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) in order to become certified homebrew judges. We are learning more than any "normal" person want to learn about beer and its' characteristics. The class is usually on Monday evening's except for two Saturday sessions. These sessions are taught at Iron Hill, a local brewpub, but start at 9am (basically so us beer folks don't interfere with lunch crowd). The class is co-taught by the headbrewer at the North Wales, Iron Hill, which is why we are allowed in the place. This morning, after our discussion about malt, we tasted beers in the Pale Ale categories. Mmmm, quite tasty. We also tasted "doctored" beers, or beers that have been altered to purposely taste bad, so that when judging in a competition we would know what common brewing mistakes taste like. Those beer's were not so good. When training to be a beer judge, you are supposed to grade/rate each beer based on aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression and grading based on style. One common theme I found between all of these beers was the honey aroma, however I was the only one who found this similarity between the three beers. Note to self, do not use Milk and Honey lotion before beer tasting. Every beer you hold will smell like honey. Not a very effective way to judge beers. Lesson Learned.

...must...go...to...knitting...

work has been draining me. as i write this i can't even muster the energy to use proper capitalization, so bear with me. the purpose of this blog is not to vent about work. i like my job...usually. right now, however, my brain is overloaded. i'm learning a new job (one of the conditions of my position is that i will "rotate" every year for three years). being in the rotational program is stressful. not only do you have to learn a brand new job, at the beginning of the year, but you also have to train someone to do your old job. sounds easy, right? it's not rocket science, but, it takes longer to teach someone than to do yourself. compound that with trying to learn a new job yourself (that is completly unrelated to your old job), which you are naturally slow at those tasks, and by the end of the day your brain is spinning. or at least my brain is spinning. needless to say, i have not had the energy to do anything lately, let alone anything crafty. the house was a mess. luckily i live with a wonderful boy who cleans on his days off, since we would have nothing to eat off of if he didn't. it was all i could do to find the energy to go to the store, so that said boy would have something to eat when he got home from work (i get home much earlier than he does, even if i have been working 10+ hour days). now it is thursday and i have not been to knitting in over a month. i must go. i have to go. otherwise i will polish off the bottle of pinot in the kitchen and fall asleep on the couch with the t.v. blaring. i don't want to do that...again. plus, i miss my knitting buddies. maybe they will inspire me to finish the second baby sock (for a friend, not me!) or my felted laptop sleeve. one can only hope.

Crazy Customers

I must say, there really are some crazy people out there. It all started innocently enough, I decided to stop at my local cellphone retailer (who shall remain nameless) on my way home from work, in order to price new phones and headsets for the boy and I. As I walked in the door I hear a woman shouting...SHOUTING! Mind you, I witnessed people making a scene at retail locations in order to express their displeasure, which can be understandable but I have never seen anyone behave like this. The woman, who had two small children with her, was in the middle of the store shouting at who I'm assuming was the store manager while on her cellphone. The very nice and embarassed sales associate comes to try to wait on me, however it was rather difficult because the woman was seriously shouting at the top of her lungs. It was as uncomfortable as being at a friend's house when their parents are fighting. I try go about my business when she directs the conversation toward me..."DO NOT BUY ANYTHING HERE", she warns "THEY WON'T TAKE ANYTHING BACK!" Ah, so the domestic dispute is about their return policy. She then returns to shouting at the manager and talking on the cellphone, meanwhile the manager is asking her to leave. It was difficult to think, let alone ask the questions I stopped in to answer. In the end, the cops were called to escort her from the store and apparently she wanted cash for her return, which is not store policy. On my drive home I couldn't help but wonder where this woman learned that acting all irrational and crazy is the best way to get what you want, and did she really want her children to learn that that was acceptable behavior?

Mummers

I spent yesterday with a bunch of men in dresses...no, really, I did. I attended the annual Mummers Parade in Philadelphia. The parade had been postponed due to inclement weather (it is normally held on New Years Day). We could not have asked for better weather in Philly yesterday, though, it was sunny and almost 70 degrees! I think we broke record highs for this time of year. What a crazy parade...lots of music and crazy costumes...(and drinking). The parade is broken into three sections: the Comics, the Fanciers and the String Bands, or something like that. Each "brigade" has their own theme, costumes and acts that they spend all year preparing for. Apparently the Mummers tradition dates back over 100 years. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Check out my pictures.



Marcia and Tammy (in the hat)

Afterward, Jake met up with Marcia, Jenni and I to watch the Seahawks game and had some excellent beer. Jake brought a bottle of Chimay (the blue label). I can't get enough Trappist beer lately. So delicious!

Lucy and Jodie (Jenni's dog's) love the roof deck of the Philly house. Here they are on the neighbors roof (notice the skylight):

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2007...I love the fresh start a new year brings. One of my many resolutions this year is to post more to this blog. Apologies for the lapse in posting, since before summer, yikes! Since Santa left a shiny, new laptop under my tree, I promise to start posting more often.
Let's see, what has happened since I last posted...
Jake and I finally set the date and location of our wedding (after a 5 year engagement, we figured it was about time). We visited Las Vegas last July decided that it would make a fun location for our wedding! To read more about that, visit our wedding blog (which will be posted to more as the date gets closer).
Emma got a new buddy...Jack, a 3 year old Beagle, who had to leave shortly (1 week) after his arrival. He decided that biting was the best way to show Emma and Jake his displeasure with them. In all fairness, it wasn't entirely his fault...we think he may have been abused by his former owner and had some issues with authority. Unfortunately that meant that we were not a suitable match for him.

My knitting group held our first ever, knitting getaway in Cape May, New Jersey. What a great trip! We visited an Alpaca farm and the local LYS. Although, there was definitely my drinking, giggling and playing than knitting. We stayed at the Cliveden Inn, one of the many B&B's in Cape May. It was such a fun trip, I hope one of many more to come.
I just returned from spending the holiday in the Pacific Northwest. It had been over three years since I had been back, so it was nice to see all of my family and friends. My visit reaffirmed the goal to move back there within the next few years. While I love the East coast, Washington is still home.
Other than that, just lots of knitting, brewing and working...our house has been pretty busy over the past few months. I wish everyone a great 2007!