A Bite of the Apple

So I am back from a weekend in NYC visiting my friend Meg who has recently moved there. She is doing great except for a growing addiction to Tasti D Lite. After a slight delay in getting there when the megabus broke down, I arrived last Friday afternoon with some time to kill before Meg finished up work so I having done my homework beforehand on yarn stores I headed over to Knitty City. A truly charming store, with oodles of pretty yarn and a great vibe. I was surprised by how many people kept dropping in on a hot Friday afternoon in July. They had some great sounding classes coming up, if I lived in New York that would surely be my yarn store.

While I was knitting, Meg was getting us tickets to see Spring Awakening. I loved the music by Duncan Sheik. And there was the bare ass of a cutie 20 year old guy!

The next day we headed to Williamsburg for some for brunch and then stumbled upon the Brooklyn Brewery.


Mmm....beer tanks.


We ended up at Union Square Greenmarket where the vendors were selling wines, produce and in one bizarre tent both the lamb's wool yarn and the lamb itself for consumption. Don't worry I only took a photo of the yarn, not the meat.



As we headed back to Meg's apartment we could hear the free Bon Jovi in Central Park. Cue "You Give Love a Bad Name" here.

I may have to create a new treaty for Sarahland with the truly noble house of Barney Greengrass, The Sturgeon King. Really anyone who makes a lox, onions and eggs that good deserves to be king.




And finally we got to give Meg's new string bag out for a test drive at the farmer's market Sunday morning. It's a mix of the Everlasting Bagstopper and the Fantasy Naturale Market Bag.

Close up

All in all a wonderful weekend that I can't wait to repeat sometime soon.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

First off, I'm an idiot. I go to the Stitch n Pitch at the Lowell Spinners game on Monday and I forget my camera. Duh! But what? You're saying, "you're not an idiot Sarah, anyone could do that." To which I respond, oh yes I am, for it just hit me now, nearly 48 hours later, that I have a camera phone! And I could have used that to take at least one low resolution kinda blurry photo of the wonderful knitters around me. But alas, no photos, maybe I'll steal one of Ariel's who took a whole bunch so go check out her blog. That's my hand knitting the blue and green string bag!

While the Spinners themselves got thumped by the Jamestown Jammers things were much happier in the stands where a great crowd of knitters enjoyed themselves and got their stitch on. It was a great site seeing all those needles at work. The feeling of community was just great. As people walked by to get snacks they peeked at your projects and asked what project you were working on. Jess probably managed to convince a few non-knitters to give it a try or buy a share in a yarn CSA. I love minor league parks because everyone seems so friendly at them, must be only having to pay $7 a ticket and the short beer lines.

And since we know I love my presents it was awesome that I walked out with more yarn than I came in with! They were giving out prizes and I won a skein of festive cotton yarn. Plus as an added bonus, we were given pins and stickers by Jess and Casey, the ravelry creators themselves. A mention on Crazy Aunt Purl's blog and now a brush with the code monkey and mamarav it truly has been quite a month for me and knitting rock stars!

The House in the Woods

Well, I am back from the wilds of Maine where I spent the holiday weekend. You've got to love a town where when the phone rings on the 4th of July it's the neighbors letting you know that a wild turkey and her babies are walking down the street.

I spent a lot of time doing my favorite activities, eating yummy breakfasts of waffles or pancakes and watching birdies out the windows. Below are my favorites the gold finch.


There were also a ton of humming birds but as much as I stalked them Sunday afternoon for a photo they could sense my presence and flitted away. As did the chipmunk and the blue jays and the dumb little chickadees who were confused by trying to drink out of the humming bird feeder. Cute birds but not the smartest. It is not unheard of for a chickadee to bonk into the kitchen window when overshooting the bird feeders. Don't worry they are okay, just a bit dazed for a moment.

I got absolutely no knitting done even with a last minute run to Woolcott when I realized I left my current project at home. I was forced, (forced I tell you!) to buy some Silky Wool for stranded mittens. I did finish "The Friday Night Knitting Club", an enjoyable read. I read most of it while sitting on the deck enjoying the view and my laughing companion. No, not my giggling niece although she can crack her self up. But this guy.





I did manage to get my ass in gear for an afternoon in Portland where I visited the Portland Fiber Gallery and Knit Wit . Both lovely shops that I hope to return to when I have more time. And in visiting the Fiber Gallery which has spinning supplies it came up in conversation that my sister has four drop spindles. How did I not know this? So I may have to borrow one and try my hand at spinning.

Well, I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Splish, Splash

I realized I hadn't posted a finished project in quite some time because I well I hadn't actually finished anything in a long time. But aha, I finally finished something!

For some inexplicable reason I have wanted to knit Absorba from Mason Dixon Knitting ever since I borrowed the book from my friend um, four, five, six months ago. (You'll have that back this Wednesday!) I mean it's a bathmat, who really, really wants to knit a bathmat? Well, me apparently. It's knit in green apple that matches my shower curtain almost perfectly. I thought about making it in all the colors of the shower curtain but I thought that it would get a bit busy and the last thing I need at 6am is to get motion sickness from looking at the floor of my bathroom.

A nice, easy project knit in log cabin style knit with 3 strands of Peaches & Creme double worsted - super cushy under my toes! And it forced me to clean my bathroom since I couldn't put my new bathmat on a dirty floor!

MA Sheep & Wool or Bahhhh Part 2

I spent a wonderful Saturday at the Mass Sheep and Woolcraft Festival with some great company. On the way we stopped at Webs (my first time there) where I got lost in the back warehouse for a while. Whoops! And I also enjoyed another first, Taco in a Bag! How have I lived without this culinary masterpiece?

Of course I had to seek out some wonderful angora bunnies to hold. This little fella had just been adopted by a nice lady who was taking him home.


And this adorable poof of a thing I got to hold for a bit.


Here is the fabulous daft crafter, modeling this year's fashion of soft, luxurious roving in a gorgeous colorway.

More colorful roving.

Lovely Llama

I'll have to keep you waiting with baited breath for the photos of my purchases.

Stamp and Deliver

So I've got some more projects from Craft Camp to show off. I took Mucho Gusto Grande taught by Traci Bunkers. For you fiber people out there besides just making cool journals, books, rubberstamps and etc she also spins and dyes yarn. It's sure is pur-ty. Anyway, back to class. This was the only class I ever took with my sister and we had a good time. We weren't too obnoxious and giggly even though my sister was a bit tipsy after the Manager's Reception a.k.a. Happy Hour. Here's a do not try this at home message for you kiddies out there --rum and linoleum cutters are not a wise move. No siblings were injured during the course of class but since both of us are extremenly squeemish at the sight of blood, we got lucky. So here are the stamps I made and the last one is the one I made for my mom for mother's day. Yes, it's Sisyphus pushing a boulder up the hill. She's always wanted a stamp with him on it and even though I find it depressing who am I to deny her? The stamps are a little rough around the edges, literally, but it's a fun quick project that I don't suck at.

Butterfly Wings and Angels, NOT

I am back from Art & Soul a.k.a. Craft Camp and I have my first project to share. My first class was Beeswax ATC taught by Barbara McGuire. Essentially it was creating Artist Trading cards and then covering them with wax. For those who don't know what an ATC is, an atc is a small work of art most often paper but sometimes fabric or another medium. The rules of ATCs are this, they must be 2 1/2" by 3 1/2 inches and you can't sell them only exchanged. For more info on what an ATC is check out the FAQ on the ATC board on craftster.

Anyway I have never made any ATC's before and to be honest I never really thought they were my thing. But being the smartass that I am I took the some of the often used elements of ATCs and put my own spin on it.