Well, it's Sunday evening and you know what that means - another post by yours truly. So the show is up and running and I am having a relatively relaxing weekend. It's been stormy here in Brooklyn and muggy like an armpit, so except for a shopping foray for food and clothing, we've been holed up like rats in our cool and newly-cleaned house. (Newly cleaned because we had some new friends over last night and we didn't want to scare them with my piles of books, magazines, crochet and knitting projects, etc.) So I've taken advantage of this relative calm and cranked out a charmer from The Happy Hooker -- Cold Shoulders. Now let it be known that I made this puppy for under 3 bucks. Yes, you read that correctly. Not for nothing, but Moda Dea Dream has been on sale for 99 cents for a while now, and I gotta say that even regardless of how cheap it is, it has bitchin' drape!
So up top's a shot of the comely little capelet, but it's not a great photo. The flash seemed to pick up on some sparkly elements that simply aren't visible unless you are hounded by paparazzi. Or Weegee. But the damn thing's cute enough for me and worked up pretty fast, even with some stupid errors on my part.
Let's see, what else? Had a fabulous dinner with the lovely Dora "Crochet Insider" Ohrenstein on Friday night - a great start to a weekend! And I have a new, but as-yet-unspoken resolve to get my workroom in working order and get some more exciting projects underway. As we slowly migrate my dad's old newspapers to the great recycling bin, possibilities are opening up for creating order where there was none. I feel badly even stating out loud some positive from all this personal sadness, but I guess it's a sign that I can even think about moving on instead of wallowing, as is my wont. If this alleged workroom does materialize, my friends, I will post photos right here for all to see.
I can't help but notice that several of my last posts have not been about crochet. Funny, that. What with this being a crochet blog and all. Whatever.
But that doesn't mean I haven't been hooking, no siree bob! Here are a couple of projects I've been working on in my less-than-spare time:
Remember that manchette I yapped about a while back? Well, I actually started making it in red cotton thread. Go figure. The picture is not great, I know, but you get the idea.
I also am nearing completion on everyone's favorite Chanson en Crochet. See?
I think I only screwed it up a little bit by falling off the count, but it's been an interesting challenge to recalculate the pattern every other row to accommodate my self-inflicted mess.
Oh, you want a close-up? Okay:
There's more, but I want to tell you about what I did yesterday in celebration of my show opening the prior night sans major screw-up. The Brit and I hauled ass to my beloved Coney Island to see the world-famous Mermaid Parade. This year, we viewed it from the boardwalk, a much better spot than our usual street vantage point. If you click on the photo to the right of this post, it'll take you to a bunch of photos from the festivities.
Is it just me, or does this shot remind anyone of the Coral Reef Project? I'm just sayin'.
As I've said before in this blog, I am not a religious person in any way, shape or form, but I approach that fervor when it comes to the Mermaid Parade. It's founder, Dick Zigun, is an amazing guy (and Yale School o' Drama grad, no less), who is also responsible for the Freak Show and Coney Island USA. Here's a link to his site, in case you're interested: http://www.coneyisland.com/.
Little-known fact alert! Your SubwayHooker used to dance in a GoGo show at Sideshows by the Seashore when she was younger, cuter, and thinner! Yes she did! It was called Wildgirl's GoGoRama and it ROCKED!
So you know, Coney Island is under serious threat of being turned into an "entertainment mall" by evil real estate developers. To my mind, Coney is one of the few genuinely democratic places left in NY -- a grungy, fabulous amusement area that is free for anyone to roam through, walk on the boardwalk, or dip a toe in the ocean. It would be sad beyond belief if this were to be lost to luxury condos, franchises, and chains. Dick's site has loads of info on how we can all help stop the ravages of under-thought overdevelopment of one of the last real places in New York. Bloomberg's gonna hear from me, I can tell you that!
Something you may not know about SubwayHooker is that, besides being a high-powered corporate wonk (okay, not so much), she has designed and created costumes for hundreds of plays, dance, puppets, and film over the last (mumble) years. This activity, though wonderful, has slowed down as of late due to serious demands on my personal bandwidth (you really can't phone it in and get a good show). My last big show was Bingo the Musical, which ran for a few months Off-Broadway, then toured a bit. But I was lured out of semi-retirement when the Immigrants' Theatre Project asked me to do this show, Marko the Prince, where "Passion, resentments, and malicious gossip in a small village on the Bosnian/Serbian border foretell the approaching Balkan war. The traditional Balkan troubador - the guslar - comments on the action as an inevitable result of history and unforgiven dishonors." The playwright is Jovanka Bach. The play was a finalist for the PEN West competition.
For fans of light-hearted fare, stay away. But if you like your theatre thought-provoking and intelligent, come to Barrow Group Arts Center 312 W. 36th St., 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10018. Previews start Friday, June 20, Opening is June 26, and the show closes July 13.
Stop me if you've heard this one. Or don't - there's bound to be someone among the three of you who may not know about Yarndex.com, your Hooker's go-to site for all info yarny. Case in point: I recently got me a ball of Bernat Country Wool. Okay, six of 'em. And I'm musing over their possible next life. And I'm thinking of making Chanson en Crochet and using this wine-colored wonder. Looks worsted-esque, so I think it's a done deal. But upon closer inspection of the label, I realize that Bernat makes it difficult to find the weight (I find it - eventually - but it took a really long time) and I still cannot find the yardage on that blasted label. But holding tightly to my rigid parochial school upbringing, I'm thinking "hey, that pert little capelet is gonna cost me hours and hours of my life. Do I really wanna break free on this project, take a chance, and let all the pertinent details be damned?" I gave it two serious seconds of thought and went straight to Yarndex only to find that Country Wool is a bulky weight - inappropriate for the lovely Chanson - and that it will take more than one ball to complete. Wiser for the experience, the capelet is now under way in its intended gauge in between spine-tingling episodes of "Alias" (we're now on season three).
So the lesson is this: as long as stupid yarn companies insist on leaving off crucial info from their labels, Yarndex is there to rescue you from making totally unnecessary mistakes.
I loves my Yarndex.
