Phiaro for Paris

Remember a few posts back I said how I bought that beautiful Tilli Tomas red silk yarn for a gift for someone else? It is an early birthday present for my sister. She is turning a BIG birthday this year (ya know the kind that ends with a "0" or a "5"?) So for this big birthday she decided she wanted to go to Paris. I started thinking about it and decided she needed a chic scarf for this trip.

We looked at patterns on ravelry and narrowed it down to a few. This was not going to be a surprise gift, I figured she deserved to get exactly what she wanted and it was a good thing because she chose the Phiaro Scarf which I probably wouldn't have picked myself. A simple pattern with an interesting construction made it knit up pretty quick. The only strange part is that you end up dropping more than half the stitches you knit. It came out beautifully and has a such a great drape and my sister loved it.

I didn't get a chance to take any good photos of the scarf before my sister left so I made her promise to take some pictures of it in Paris. In fact, being the younger sister that I am I bugged the crap out of her that I wanted to see the Scarf at the Louvre, the Scarf at the Arch de Triomphe etc... and oh, she could be in the pictures too if she wanted.

Well, she is in Paris at this very moment and with the wonders of modern technology I have learned that Scarfy is enjoying itself and my niece is planning to write a story detailing its adventures in Paris.


Scarfy with a view of The Eiffel Tower


Scarfy at The Louvre


M & M & Scarfy

Fresh from the Farm and Feeling Googly

I could take normal photos of this week's haul from the CSA but I am feeling a bit goofy today (ah hell, I'm pretty goofy most days). It's in the 90s and I have no air-conditioning so I am pleading temporary insanity based on melted brains.

So here is just some of what I got today.

Don't worry no fruits or vegetables were harmed during this filming. Although the tomato and cucumber are headed for the food processor for a yummy asian gazpacho and I may be a total masochist and turn on the oven to make an a small eggplant parmigiana.

Post #111 aka I am blanking on a cute title

My sister and I were talking today about how we're not really good with change. There's a lot of change in the works around us; new schools, friends moving away etc...I told her how I was heading to Haymarket after work to pickup ingredients for some weekend cooking and I that I never want Haymarket to change. I want it to stay it's slightly grungy self with guys yelling "Two fer a dollah!, two fer a dollah", who get pissed when you manhandle the fruit and how some days you need to push your way through the crowd in the bottle necked, narrow section. It's not farmers market pretty, it's Haymarket and some things shouldn't change.

So after work I got a bit sidetracked by walking a co-worker to South Station. He was about to take a bus and a subway instead of the 10 minute walk from our office since he didn't know that "route" (he kept calling it a "route") and didn't trust my directions (walk down street, turn right, see bus station, walk to it) without consulting Google Maps and already had shut down his PC. (Right now Non-Crafty Meg is shouting "That's why you, meaning everyone, should have an iphone!") So I offered to walk him there since it was such a nice evening.

Since I was now at South Station my walk to Haymarket was now different and I found myself walking along the Rose Kennedy Greenway. And that's where I suddenly saw it. A carousel. A carousel in downtown Boston. It was strange and wonderful and made stop dead in my tracks with a silly smile on my face. I will admit I do tend to steer away from the Fanueil Hall area when it is high tourist season but how did I miss this for so long? And why was it not there when I was a kid? I could imagine myself looking back fondly "remember when we got to ride the carousel whenever we got dragged to Haymarket and Mom made us carry heavy melons?"

Maybe a little change isn't so bad.

I had almost reached my destination when two women, tourists, asked me where to find, as they put it, "the italian area". I took this to mean The North End. And as I motioned to them where to go I looked over at where the ugly Expressway had been prior to The Big Dig and I was surprised as I always am that it's not there. Instead you are actually able to see the sky and there are parks and it's pretty. Hmmm....more non-evil change.

So I wish there was a moral here, like I am now embracing change, when life hands you lemons and yada yada yada. But really? Me? I am just a complex gal who likes her city cleaned up, some, but not so much that it loses its charm and becomes a giant mall. I want outdoor cafes but am frightened by the sheer number of Panera's that seem to have sprouted up overnight. I embrace technology and wallow in nostalgia. And I will always, always love a merry-go-round.

American Beauty and a Pizza

I mentioned in my last post that I bought some gorgeous yarn while visiting New York. I stopped in at Purl Soho which is such a delightful store. Something about the way the yarn is arranged is so visually pleasing. It just bursts with color and I only wish I could have stayed longer, but alas I was with Non-Crafty Meg and could only subject her to so such much fawning over yarn.

I went to Purl with a mission. I was looking for bamboo or silk in red. The staff at the store was amazingly helpful and soon I was fondling this gorgeous Tilli Tomas 100% silk in American Beauty colorway. I have never seen this yarn before it is just lovely. I just love it and it's mine all mine!!! (Insert cackling laugh here.) Oh wait, actually it's not really mine for long, I bought it for a gift for someone. I guess now that I have stated that here I guess I can't even keep it for myself.

Now for a "what I've been cooking from my CSA haul update". This week saw the return of the beet risotto, a bacon, squash and chard quiche and this white pizza with artichoke and chard. The pizza was yummy but the taste of the veggies kind of got lost in the cheese and dough. But that's really okay because it's cheese and dough!! Yummy!!

Hot Time in the City

It's a warm Friday night in the city and what am I up to? Laundry! And I am just fine with that. I was away the past few weekends and now my naturally homebody-self is happily sitting at home catching up on shows on the DVR and my Netflix.

I spent the 4Th of July weekend up in Maine where we picked strawberries, made strawberry daiquiris, strawberry and sponge cake and strawberry pancakes. All wonderful until I realized by the end of the weekend I have developed a strawberry allergy and had to hit the store for antihistamine and calamine lotion. I like to think that maybe my body couldn't handle the strawberry overload and I am really not allergic. I do love my denial.

This past weekend I went to New York City to visit Non-Crafty Meg for her birthday. We packed a whole lot into one weekend. We saw The Hangover (hilarious - but not for those who dislike profanity and ribald humor) then over to Serendipity for a late dinner and their famous frozen hot chocolate.




Serendipity


We had lunch at Justin Timberlake's bar-b-q restaurant with my cousin who is interning at a magazine in NYC for the summer. A loooooot of walking around and much drinking of iced coffee, a quick visit to the Museum of Arts and Design, where the current exhibit The Art of Industrial Ceramics was very cool and is there until Sept 13 so check it out if you're in the city.

Columbus Circle (photo taken from outside the Museum of Arts and Design)


That night we went to see "The Tempermentals" starring Michael Urie from Ugly Betty. He and the entire cast were just wonderful! A really great and interesting play. Another must see if you're visiting the city. And who was in the audience just a few rows away - Joan Rivers!

The celeb spotting continued all weekend as saw one of the kids from Gossip Girl and an actress from One Life to Live on the street. The next night we went to Rock of Ages (fabulously cheesetastic in an 80s music kind of way) I won the ticket lottery and got a sweet seat in the 2nd row! and who was there but Phil Collins! The play stared one of the folks from American Idol but since I have never watched it (yeah I am one of those 10 people) I don't count him in my celeb sightings. Meg says she saw Pierce Brosnan at a cafe in Soho the next day but I missed it so I can't corroborate that sighting.

I did squeeze in a visit to a yarn store but the yarn I bought there is soooo pretty that it may deserve a post of its own and I haven't taken pictures of it yet.

Besides the yarn I picked up these super cute appetizer plates at CB2 that were recently mentioned at decor8. I bought them before Meg pointed out the decor8 post to me. I am just soooo trendy, ha! (Hear that Marsy I'm hip!)




Whew, by the end of the weekend I was exhausted and my feet were a wee bit sore but we had a great time and I think Meg's birthday was celebrated in style. But now I am happily loafing on the sofa watching summer tv.

Everyone Gets The Clap Sooner or Later

Stop being so dirty you know I mean The Clapotis.

The amazingly popular pattern that is one of the most knit patterns out there. As I write this there are 11,847 projects on ravelry. I finally know why. I really enjoyed knitting it. East to memorize, with just enough detail to keep the miles of stockinette from getting too tedious. Plus, you get to drop stitches - on purpose!!
The only drawback was the yarn I used. Berroco Softwist is a wee bit splitty. I love the shine the rayon gives but it took a whole lot more concentration while knitting to keep it from splitting.

Now I am already thinking about knitting another...maybe some variegated sock yarn.

I asked my favorite model, to pose for the photos of the project. I may have to knit her a kid-sized version.

Knit Your Bit

As long time readers may remember I was given a poster by my folks a while ago of Knitting Girl, a vintage poster for a french store. I wasn't so sure how I felt about her then but soon after I came to love her, she's my avatar, my knitting alter-ego and even design inspiration for my front entry room (I picked up the red of her chair for rugs etc....)

So I was searching around for other knitting related posters a few weeks back and I came across this one that really caught my eye. It's a reproduction of a Red Cross poster used during World War I around 1918. I like the irony in the fact that I don't knit socks and this poster is telling me, no ordering me to so. We'll see, I'd hate to be unpatriotic. Oh, and the fact that the yellow background of the poster is the exact same color as the walls of my office/craft room is just the icing on top. I am pretty impressed with myself in the fact that I got the poster in the mail and bought a frame and hung it up within days. I am usually a horrible procrastinator and let things sit unframed and unhung for months at a time.



And just for fun here is a glamour shot of this week's CSA goodies. I am all about the greens now. Or it could just be that I love anything sauteed with olive oil and garlic. I off to start looking for some radish recipes and I'll check out Ariel's blog who is linking to recipes she may use for our veggie haul. It's good to have friends who read foodie blogs.