It's Macrame, But Worth a Peek

Some More Vintage Whimsy

Thought I'd post a few more of these lovely chapeaus....

I particularly love the clever use of the stitch patterns in the top one.

Enjoy!

Hallo from Hilversum!

I'm writing from my hotel room in Hilversum, Netherlands. I'm here on business, but there is always time for yarn in my book, so I'm taking advantage of my considerable jet lag to post and say hi, as it's some ungodly time in the morning...

Although my copy of Interweave Crochet arrived a few days ago, I've only just starting looking at it closely and I am very impressed. There's a few beauts in this issue design-wise, and some great articles. Overall, I have to say that Interweave does the best job in presenting relevent, interesting articles and great designs. Don't worry, I'm not going soft - trust me, there have been some klunkers -- but I'm happy to give credit when and where due.

First, kudos to my friend Dora Ohrenstein, who, aside from her considerable design prowess, is also showing herself to be quite the crochet historian. I really enjoyed her piece, "The Victorian Crochet Revolution". I confess the topic is a weakness of mine, being a history dork and all, but Dora has a gift for pulling the facts together and making the story flow. And not for nothing, her new design for Crochet Insider is GORGEOUS! Well done, Dora!

But I even liked the articles by people I don't know! The laceweight piece and the Lisa Naskrent articles were both interesting and well-composed. Who knew?

But let's get to the patterns, shall we?

Like I said, there are a few gorgeous ones in this issue. Of particular note are the two shawls, Raindrops Broomstick Lace and the Shape-Shifting Shawls are really nice. Raindrops uses a very appealing stitch pattern and Shape-Shifting has amazing drape.
And while technically not a shawl, the Yoga Beach Sarong has a very cool stitch as well, with strong vertical lines that should be quite flattering. Can we call it an ass shawl?

Lisa Naskrent's Bustier Top is another interesting piece. I particularly like the back view on it with its historical reference. I wonder how it would look on someone with curves?

I gotta say that my absolute favorite in this issue is Annie Modesitt's Pretty Pleats Skirt. Holy crap! I love love love the colors, fit, and overall design on this. And ohmigod, it has a waist! It's funky, cute and actually well-styled by the magazine (not one of Interweave's strengths in the past).

There are a couple of dress patterns in this issue too, but I always have doubts about this kind of project. First, these mothers take a looong time to do and then grow to astonishing lengths once you wear them. Personally, I won't invest the time.

Crocheted skirts I've made before (longer ones) have always stretched like crazy, which really pisses me off. I'm hoping Annie's skirt doesn't fall prey to that, but I think the shorter length and A-line shape will keep it from growing as much as the others have.

And finally, I gotta mention Doris Chan's Curtain pattern. I really like its wonky, rustic look.

Anyway, time for a shower and then off to work.

Ta for now!

Whimsy

I have this awful tendency to keep piles everywhere. Drives the Brit nuts when they get too high. So as I was working from home yesterday, I took a break to reduce the height of my nearest pile consisting largely of vintage pattern books.

Now, quite of few of them deal with making accessories of one stripe or other. As crochet lends itself to structure more readily than knitting, there is a preponderance of vintage crochet hat patterns to be pored over. And it doesn't take long to see that hats (and bags too, I guess), lend themselves to more whimsical designs than, say, sweaters. Or put it this way, they are more successfully whimsical than sweaters (my proof point being those godawful christmas sweaters that get dragged out every year all mothball-scented and embarrassing).

Seeing some of these makes me wish that we still could entertain these little flights of fancy in our lives. I think the single hardest thing to wear is a hat and I always admire the brave souls that do and carry it off. But how fun would it be to raise the bar even on that and wear some of these treasures?

The New Additions (A Yarnless Discussion)

So yesterday the Brit and I went to an adoption event in the nabe which included animals from both North Shore Animal League (a no-kill facility) and Animal Control (a kill 'em quick facility). I've been without pussies for a while, ever since the death of my beloved Spunky about 4 years ago, and have been pestering the Brit for some fresh kitties for the house.

Now all playing aside, I am a very firm believer in getting shelter animals ONLY. In fact, I am incredibly judgmental about those who purchase animals from a pet shop and even more so from a breeder. I believe breeders should be put out of business, full stop. Seriously. I know there are ethical ones out there, I guess, but the whole concept of breeding leaves me very cold, indeed. That breeds can be virtually obliterated by breeders catering to an audience favoring "fad" animals is apalling to me. It's happened before and will happen again.

But I digress.

So we are at this adoption event and one of the workers tells the crowd, "The animals in the bus will be killed tonight. Please adopt them first. The animals in the church basement will be fine." So we look at the animals on the bus, of course.

And we see the two little guys above, as yet unnamed. The tortie is the girl, the marmalade is the boy. They are two months old and were found on Tuesday on 38th St. in Sunset Park by Animal Control. They were snoozing and wrapped around each other like stuffed toys with velcro on their paws and I kind fell for them immediately. I'm sure this was aided by the notion that they'd be landfill by morning if we didn't take them, but there ya go.

Anyway, these little guys are so beautiful, so small. I am thrilled that our small action prevented the destruction of their lives and will give them the chance to grow and thrive over the next, what, 15 years.

So I'm ending this with a plea to all of you - please get your pets from shelters, not from breeders. So many animal lives are needlessly put down. Please think twice before you buy a pet. And please, spay or neuter the pets you have to prevent the crazy number of unwanted dogs and cats in this country.

Boy and Girl will have long and happy lives with us. They will be well-fed and very loved. They will not have to face a harsh winter or suffer the abuses of the heartless. But in all honesty, I feel like we are the lucky ones to have found these wonderful little critters with whom we will share our lives.

Catch Up

Hola, y'all!

Whirlwinds here at el Rancho Hooker. When last we spoke, we had just returned from the deliriously lovely Napa. The very next day, we were visited upon by my stepdaughter and her mom (yes, you read that right) for six days. Not for nothing, but if that doesn't smack of either some scary reality show or a sitcom, nothing does.

So the Brit and I have been laying low this long weekend, keeping peaceful in our finally reclaimed household, catching a breath and bracing now for the week ahead at work. But it is still a day off, and we are making the most of it.

On our touristing about the isle of Manhattan last weekend, I took the photo above of a stall in the Union Square Market that sells gorgeous yarns, so soft and luscious you want to wrap your damn nekkid body in them. Oh yeah! I just feel bad because in that selfsame stall they sell the slaughtered lambies, too. Yuck. And no, I did not buy any wool or meat.

I'd mentioned once upon a time ago that I'd finished the felicity hat from ravelry, and I'm sure that none of you believed me, but here it is in all its ribbed glory:

Now, the pattern doesn't call for the ribbing, but I truly look like ass with a flat thing on my big head, so the garter ribbing makes this a tad more flattering. Not that I'd post a photo of me in the hat, of course, except maybe from the rear.

And there is progress on the Shipwreck Shawl, in all its beautiful frustration. And it truly isn't the pattern's fault. I have this horrible tendency to end the day sticking or hooking while literally nodding off on the couch. Funny how that's not considered a best practice for successful needlework.

I won't go into detail on the numbers of times I've screwed this up. But I will tell you that keeping markers on the needles delineating the pattern repeats has saved me from having to do much in the way of serious frogging. Seriously.

On to food.

As usual, I'm cooking up a storm. This weekend, despite the steamy weather, I made a huge pot of this chili from one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. It is the very best chili in the world. Trust me. From one of the very best food blogs in the world. Again, trust me. Even you carnivores will get seduced by Heidi's recipes. They are amazing.

And since we had the little pomme frite here last weekend, we overloaded on bananas. So I had to make a couple of loaves of banana bread this weekend. I used this Weightwatcher recipe as a base, but pimped it with dried cranberries, cardamom, and walnuts. Holy crap, it's good.

And because the frigging vat of chili, 2 banana breads, and a loaf of rye bread wasn't enough, I made some granola yesterday. I used a Martha Stewart recipe as a base for proportions, but again pimped it with the addition of pepitas, sesame seeds, crushed almonds, dried mango, and dried cranberries.

Can I get an AMEN!But the photo I took of the finished concoction looked like vomit, so I'm just posting this arty shot of the ingredients.

Okay, c'est tout for now!

Back from Dreamworld

Hello Loves! Just flew in from Napa, and boy, are my arms tired!

Thanks, I'm here all week!

Ah, Napa. Sweet, sweet land of wine and olive oil. Palm trees and pine trees. Heat and chill. Food and fun. How we love you... So, yes, yet another trip to Napa. It was hubsy's birthday weekend, and every restaurant seemed to have a candle for him. We stayed again at the Napa River Inn, that lovely haunted place. They kindly greeted us with a bottle of wine for our return visit. We went to Taylor's Automatic Refresher for lunch and Angele's for dinner. Apres Angele's, we went to Silo's for some amazing old dixieland jazz, played by guys (and a girl), who were just fantastic! We visited Far Niente on Saturday for a fabulous tour and tasting with Walt. Breathing the gorgeous air in the barrel fermentation room - heady aromas that I wish I could re-experience at will. Their grounds are spectacular, by the way, and the staff could not be nicer. And Dolce! OHMIGOD, the Dolce! We tasted a '99 vintage that was gold and honey and flowers and everything nice. Sweet, yes, but cloying? Never! That afternoon we went to Frog's Leap. While I really like their wines, I have to say the tour disappointed a bit. Kinda snarky mixed with Valley Girl. Maybe you have to be in the mood.

And if you are in Napa, please go to Ubuntu for their intensely creative vegetarian fare. Vegetarian, yes, and oh so indulgent.

Sunday brought us back to Duckhorn. Tom gave us a VIP tour and tasting that was an absolute joy. Doesn't hurt that their wines are fantastic, that the property is gorgeous, that the people are really nice and knowledgeable. I love this place! Sunday night's dinner was at Celadon, which, like Angele's, is on the Napa River Inn property. And again, the food was awesome.

Crap, I'm fawning now. How embarassing.

Did I hook? Did I stick?

I sticked, mostly. Hooks were in the bag, but I pretty much sticked on the plane. We were on the go quite a bit, with less time in the room than normal, so the trip was about enjoying what we could about Napa. All that said, I made a bit of progress on the Shipwreck Shawl, undoing the massive screw ups of yore and slowly moving forward. We'll see how it all looks, won't we, when a few more rows have been created...

Till later!

xoxoxoxoxo