MarQ1

Knitting last night on the scarf (Scarf IV) that I had intended to send to my brother, after adding a foot or so of creamy white to the three feet or more of charcoal black in a chunky brioche (going for asymmetry), I looked at said scarf in my lap and thought, This is just too Gay.

It’s a bit too Cruella de Vil for a straight guy in Bend OR. It would work in New York or Boston or maybe even Chicago, but anywhere else I’m afraid it would look like it’s headed out to a piano bar to sing showtunes. Actually, I can see that in New York, too.

What now?

This was dinner:

You cannot imagine how good this was.

No, I did not eat the whole thing.

Well, that’s a cheap way to get hits.

J’s up in New England with his family for the holiday. It’s a given that I don’t have to go. Since it was sunny and almost warm yesterday morning, I decided to do some shopping, which normally I hate, but it’s still better than answering in the negative, “Did you even leave the apartment while I was gone?” The usual answer is, in fact, no.

In a rare form of energy, I went all the way to Manhattan to check out Knit New York, which is really cool and full of temptations, many of which I succumbed to:

You’d be amazed how little time this took.

Clockwise from the top left, you see one hank of Cascade 220 Tweed in burgundy; Nicki Epstein’s Knitting on the Edge; 6 balls of Filatura di Crosa Zara merino in charcoal and two shades of green; 3 balls Filatura di Crosa Millefili Fine cotton, two in black, one bright orange; 1 hank Reynolds Rapturi (silk/wool) in brown; 1 hank Berrocco Denim Silk (rayon/silk); and two hanks of Koigu Premium Merino, (in Crayola terms) one in red-orange and another in orange-red.

I have to confess that the Tweed, the Rapturi and the Denim Silk did not come from Knit New York, and you will also note that the Tweed is no longer in hank format. That’s because I went hard core and bought a ball winder at Knit NY, but they didn’t have a swift, so I went to the LYS to get that and ended up getting the three hanks because they were there and I want to try them out.

I love the ball winder. And the center-pull balls you end up with are cool too. And it’s so much easier than sitting on the floor for an hour trying to resolve a 478yrd hank of Cascade Ecological Wool (two balls: under five minutes).

Further evidence that I’ve gone off the deep end is that I took my knitting to brunch, just me and a swatch for a hat to replace the one TrickyTricot now has. An ugly swatch too, on circs, with all the loose ends flapping around. In the Millefili Fine it looks like mutant lace. I might go with the merino instead.

The hat looks pretty good, BTW. The right model always helps.

If the spending seems excessive, it’s habitual. In the month leading up to my birthday (not telling), I buy myself every birthday present I could want. Really pisses J off.

In fact, I did not finish my shopping. I was supposed to buy pants for work, but didn’t get around to it.

Off to finish swatching.

Addendum

I sent the scarf off to my niece yesterday. It’s the first thing I’ve made for someone intentionally. Hope she likes it.

I can’t believe I can’t mail margerine to Canada. Who’d a thunk it?

Just how would one renovate butter?

Need I say more?

One of my favorite blogs belongs to Rabbitch, who was quite forgiving of my comment on the unfortunate Otis.

So here is the interview, which I backed into, from her blog. I was actually hoping she’d ask whether I wanted some green cotton, just to see what she’d do if someone actually took her up on it.

Quoting directly:

The rules are pretty simple. If you want to participate, here’s how this puppy works:
 
1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
 
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
 
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
 
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
 
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Right.

The yarn above is Baby Silk (25g/109yds 80% baby alpaca/20% silk) from elann.com. I really like it, but really cannot use it (see below). I am willing to trade for odds and/or ends that do not contain alpaca. There are seven balls, less the amount required for a 5″x2″ swatch. The brightness of the red is exaggerated by the camera, but the colors are fairly true. I hadn’t any plans for it, and they were fairly inexpensive, but it seems a waste just to have it lying around never going to use. Email me (m1h AT nyc DOT rr DOT com) if you want to trade.

I am working on a practice swatch of a waffle brioche in cotton. It sounds like food, but looks more like a potholder. Somehow yo’s and k2tog-b’s aren’t that relaxing. Particularly when our fingers are cold.

I have no idea what cr*p is falling from the sky now. It doesn’t look like rain and it doesn’t look like snow and doesn’t sound like sleet.

I want Spring.

I made Mom’s Veggie Recipe. I recommend it. It even makes carrots palatable.

J took a better pic of the scarf (see below)