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

Post 100

So, it's been a while.

Oh, not much, how 'bout you? Yeah? Same rash as before? Wow.

Maybe you should see someone about that.

Oh, hi! Sorry. Wrong conversation.

So you may have noticed that I haven't been around much. About that....

Each week in absentia had an excuse. One year since my dad died. That was a big one. Visited his grave. Or should I say, "their" grave, as he shares it with mom, who passed in '85. Weird. Orphan is weird.

Then, work intervened. Shareholder meeting. Earnings release, blah, blah, blah. For that matter, we're in Napa next weekend for hubsy's birthday. Yes we are! This even is quickly followed by a visite by my stepdaughter (known by us as the little pomme frite) and her mom all the way from France. Yeah, the day after we get back from Napa. So today was cleaning day.

So all this babble might cause you to think that I haven't been hooking or knitting or cooking, right? It's okay, you can admit it. But you'd be so wrong, it hurts.

Exhibit A:
So, remember my yakking about "forest & frill?" Well, it's done and already worn to a swanky event. Here's the rub: I followed the pattern and used a double strand of whatever this yarn is, and I just think it's too damn heavy and thick. But I did get some complements on this puppy, so I can't bitch too much, right? Right?

Exhibit B:
This silver tube is the beginning of the Felicity Hat, featured on ravelry. It's done now, but I've not taken any shots yet. Soon, I promise!


Exhibit C:
Now, I'm sure each and every one of you has been keeping track of my forays into domestic bliss, so I'm equally sure that you'll enjoy my attempt at making yogurt! For the technicians and bookies among you, I used a plain Dannon as the starter with an organic whole milk. And I gotta say, I was less than thralled with the results. It tasted great, don't get me wrong, sort of light and fresh and creamy, but the texture was uneven (my fault, for sure). I'll have to give this another go.

Exhibit D:

Now this little baby is the Shipwreck Shawl from the recent edition of Knitty. And yes, that's right, I've screwed it up beyond all recognition. Sometimes I make myself so damned proud. But I'm taking this mother with me on the plane to Napa, six hours of uninterrupted frustration. Sounds like fun in a baggie, kids!

Anyway, it's late and I'm losing steam, so I'll leave you now to ponder my productivity. Not sure if I'll post this weekend (swimming as I'll be in the Vintner's Gift), but stranger things have happened....

Yarn Shrink: Overcoming the Crap

Do you have a million UFOs in your abode? Well, do you? I do. Okay, maybe more than a million.

Why does a UFO become one? Is it boredom of the same stitch over and over? Is is the thrill and excitement of the new and sexy project glittering in the distance? Is it the smell of new yarn and its seductive powers holding sway over your widening wallet? Yeah, I'm there.

It's also the project somehow not quite holding up to its promise, isn't it? You're following the directions, whether they are in your head, on the screen, in a book, or a crumpley piece of paper. The beautiful lines are not quite what you'd hoped. The color is boring. Too many mistakes too far back to fix.

I usually fall somewhere at either end - falling for the come-hither project in the periphery or seeing the project falling short of its promise. In either case, I'm screwed.

So given that we are trying not to squander our dough on every yarny-come-lately, I've taken a mini-oath to revisit my dormant dears and see what I can do to fix them, or revive my interest in them.

Case in point: Forest & Frills. I love this adorable little shrug. I love the colorway of the yarn I"m using. But it didn't seem to look like what I thought it would. Somehow, it looked heavy, like a blanket, though I carefully followed the directions and the gauge seems to be fine. So I dropped it in favor of something else - I don't even know what.

So today I'm pissing away time that I should have been spending putting summer bulbs in the window boxes on a perfectly spectacular Spring day (I did plant a bunch in the garden proper, but the window boxes need love, too) poking around ravelry, and I came across a bunch of people's versions of F&F and lo! they looked just like mine! I mean halle-freakin-lujah! So I wasn't off the mark, after all!

So I am winding down my work on this gorgeous shawl (again, another UFO, but it looks like I might be short on yarn, dammit), and will commence on forest & frills right away.

So for all of you who, like me, act like magpies with the lure and promise of shiny new projects, take a look at what others are doing. If you are dropping them because of frustration or boredom, taking a closer look at the finished project in the various forms created by your fellow hookers/knitters might give you the kick in the panties you were looking for to pick it up again.

Hey, it's worth a shot, right?

Sunday, Foggy Sunday

So right this very moment, Brooklyn is shrouded in a delicious fog. Potatoes are baking in the oven and some soy/lime/sesame marinated tofu will soon follow suit. A freshly-baked loaf of hubby's whole wheat is sitting on the kitchen counter as the weekend draws to its inevitable close.

So, what's new?

Remember that pair of pants I swore I'd refashion? Well, start checking the temperature in hell, cos here it is:

Now, I do not, for the record, consider this finished. Quite the contrary: I kinda feel this is a blank canvas upon which I can vent my artistic spleen. As this skirt is right now, I call is BORING as hell. But I do think with a little effort and imagination, it will be quite tasty, indeed. Maybe a crocheted trim? In red? Maybe it gets embroidered? Painted? Dunno yet, but I hope it will be done in time for the trip to Napa that we have planned for the hubster's birthday!

Oh yes, I said Napa! Hot damn! All those miles I've been racking up are paying off now, big time! The r/t airfare for both of us is............$10! Hoo boy!

In other news, I got a wild hair up my ass and bought me some thrift store sweaters to ravel. One is a golden yellow silk blend thing. T'other is wool and cotton greeny thing. I've started on goldie, but am a bit disappointed in the yarn. It lacks twist and seems to want to come apart pretty easily. Here's the harvest thus far:

But this harvested yarn + boring skirt makes me think about where I will be going for some uber-inspiration: my beloved Scandinavian yarny books. I will start with Second Time Cool
and followed, perhaps, by Knitprovisation
If you don't know these books, I strongly recommend taking a look. They are wonderful and mind-opening, particularly when you are in the repurposing mood.

Some webby randomnity for you now:

First, check out this link:

http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/index.html

There are scads of very cool textilia to peruse on this site, including crochet. Have at it!

And two interesting images:


This was apparently an art project in the high desert from 2007. Wish I'da known...

And finally, this sweet image to feast your peepers on:
Ta for now!

Happy Spring!

It's been a lovely weekend here in Brooklyn with signs of Spring smacking you from every which-way, as it happens. The sun's staying up later, taking its damn time going to bed, but here in our house we are already in our jim-jams and sipping Tuscan wine, hoping to stretch the evening out as long as possible. Think of it as mentally dragging our feet along the sidewalk to slow down the bike's inevitable ride to the end of the street (or Monday, as it is known to the rest of the world).

Sigh.

But I spent yesterday doing Spring-y things, like clearing the dead leaves out of my wee garden, letting the lovely crocuses get the light they seek to survive and cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom, as it were.

Another weekend, another loaf of seedless rye bread. Nah, I won't bore you with photos. Another weekend not finishing the friggin' Pi Shawl, which has thoroughly whipped my ass. But it's given me an excellent excuse to continue on my fancy-ass shawl.

And start on a new knitting project, Wrenna from French Girl Knits, a totally cute short-sleeved sweater.

Which has also given me some problems, truth be told. But beloved ravelry has come to my rescue and helped interpret the directions for this newbie knitter. I'll be honest, at first I was really pissed off when I read post after post calling this the easiest damn thing they'd ever made. I believe my response was "go forth and multiply," but not in those words. But there were a few brave souls who came forth and bitched about the VERY SAME ROWS that were giving me problems, so I felt better about the whole unpleasantness.

Anywho.

So, I was going through some crapola in my workroom (aka woefully disorganized dumping ground) and I came across some stuff I'd made. I thought you'd like to see some of it...

This is a totally weird handpuppet I made a long time ago. I think he's so cute with his vintage button eyes...
This HOIR is a punch-needle embroidery thing I made. HOIR is the acronym for "House of Ill-Repute," my performance art series that I'd hosted first at Theatre Club Funambules on Ludlow Street, then at the original (and ironical) Knitting Factory on Houston Street. Ah, the old days...


And this little guy is based on a Matt Groening character from Life in Hell...
And no trip to the past would be complete without some Irish Crochet...Ah, the past...

Finally, I was poking around on the internet looking for fun or interesting stuff, and I found this - an online book on knitting that promises to be very useful, indeed. I hope you find it useful, too.

That's all for this week. Till next time, friends!

Yarn Plus

I've long been an admirer of FiberArts Magazine. They are a source of inspiration for the frustrated artist in me and, like a great museum or gallery trip, I close the pages feeling energized and excited to create.

I'd felt like they lost their way editorially for a few years, but the more likely explanation is that I turned my attention elsewhere. But the last few issues that have crossed my path show a sharper artistic eye, something more mature and incisive about the work shown. It's less about technique and how to make a better mitre than how people are expressing themselves more fully through fiber. It's so freakin' cool.

The current issue exemplifies this new maturity. Check out the crochet and dance article. The work is gorgeous. If you are interested in our common medium brought to a different level, I highly recommend giving FiberArts a look.