novamade

a two fer

We interrupt this unintentional blog break with a post.  So I had pie for you last week (actually, a tart, all fruity and nice--fruit tart with pastry cream & shortbread crust) and then I cut my finger (a baking boo-boo) trying to remove said treat from its tart pan and it put the kabosh on the pie joy (I couldn't even look at it, much less eat it--my coworkers who snorgled it for breakfast claimed it was good, but I am starting to think they will eat anything).  So while I allow my enthusiasm for pie to recharge, let's talk scarves.  More specifically, woven scarves.  Some of you may be getting sick of the woven scarf-talk.  I'm sorry, but I heart them.

So, towards the end of March and beginning of April (yeah, I know, that was a while ago), I took a weaving class at Webs.  I don't really live near Webs, but as often as I go there, you'd think it was around the corner; but, as I was saying, I took I weaving class.  The backstory on this class and my registration for it offer countless illustrations of stupidity on my part--kind of funny now (I thought it was one weekend, it was two; I thought it was for rigid heddle loom instruction, it was for a floor loom, etc...), but it was all very exciting.  I learned a lot about floor looms.  I think my foray in rigid heddle weaving allowed me to understand a lot of basic concepts and gave me a base of knowledge to work from.  At the end of the class, I had a scarf.  Details in the gallery o' goodness.

My plan was to give it to Special K for hanging out with our kid for four whole days, thus allowing me time to drive to and from, and attend the day long class meetings.  This is why I chose the colors that I did.  His response: "nice scarf but it's kind of long.  I think I like short scarves."  So now I have a nice new long scarf.  And a passion for weaving.  The royal trifecta of gift-giving that is the month of May (for me-birthday, Mother's Day, anniversary, you might have to make your own arrangements--if you have two days and need a third, I would offer the addition of St. Insert-your-name-here Day, it could work) served as a good excuse for Special K to prove himself worthy of the "Special" in his moniker; he ordered me a floor loom.  It will arrive next month.  I am very excited about it.  Till then, I will have to content myself with pie.

Last week's was the fruit tart as previously mentioned.  Look at it, all innocent and sweet.

This week was blueberry pie.  And I think it's going to be the last until fall, you know, when the show that started all of this is back on the air.  Both pies were made possible with pie crust recipes from the Joy of Cooking (the 1972 reprint) and a lot of improvisation for the fillings and layout on my part (and the fact that I can be improvisational when it comes to food is a shock to anyone who knows me and my over-reliance on recipes).  And in case anyone else besides me thought that making pie when it's 100 degrees outside is good idea, it's not.  Those hearts on the blueberry pie aren't me being cute, they are evidence of me not be able to do anything else with the dough in the heatwave that swept the northeast for the last three days.

The other thing I am filling my time with is knitting.  I may actually have something one might describe as a "finished object" when I come back. Maybe.

new york in november

First we were going.  Then we weren't.  And then we said, who are we to let a little thing like sickness deter us from taking three bites out of the Big Apple?  In a spontaneous (for us) decision, we opted to go.  And on the advice of my friend Al, we thought we would take a ferry (long story).  When I say we, I mean Special K.  I came home from work and was told, "we are leaving in 15 minutes, pack a bag."  Good times!

We were sick, but we had fun.  We stopped at School Products.  I bought some yarn.

We stopped at Purl Soho.  Special K got to meet other knitter spouses outside the shop while I discovered that I am somewhat claustrophobic in the shop (tiny shop), try going on a week day, that would be my advice.  I, of course, bought some yarn.  I would have probably bought more if I didn't feel so frantic and uncomfortable in the cramped quarters that was Purl on a Saturday afternoon.

We also went to Purl Patchwork, right down the street.

I was able to see many of the projects from Joelle Hoverson's new book.  The shop is small, but it wasn't as crowded as the yarn shop.  Special K  waited outside with Little Sir for a while but did have to bring in Little Sir at one point though, it was getting really cold outside.  Not that he was complaining.

We also managed to get to Brooklyn to check out Brooklyn General Store. 

I am convinced that it is, quite possibly, the most wonderful place on earth.  Special K mentioned that of all the yarn shops he has been in, this was his favorite.  We won't even analyze that statement.  Just go with it.  It is a great place, the atmosphere is excellent, the staff is friendly and the customers are fun.  A quilter had a really long conversation with Little Sir about her quilting adventures.  He thought she was fascinating. And of course, I bought a few things.

And though we had a lot of fibery fun in New York, we really enjoyed going to The Strand (18 miles of books people!).  I was able to add to my collection of Dorothy Parker books (by and about).  I am a fan.

I think we mostly enjoyed the parks (Central and Prospect) though.  We are fans of public spaces.  And who is going to deny the fun of a park to a kid?

We didn't get as much done as we would have liked; but, we were sick.  And of course, you all are right.  New York will always be there, so we can go back!  Probably when it warms up a little though.  We had some frozen fingers and toes on Saturday!

communiqué from the island

Due to a kid with a cold and suffering from the pain that is teething, my weekend was a little extended.  However before there was misery, there was fun.

I went apple picking with my boys.

We played with pumpkins.

I made cupcakes (although we were all so sick, no one really wanted to eat any).

And I became a resident of sleeve island.

I will be on sleeve island for a while, I think.  But at least when I leave the island I will be closer to having completed my first knit-by-me sweater for myself (I suppose I will have to become a resident of 'collar island' and then 'seaming island' first; but, I hear those islands are pretty happening).

i just want to celebrate

May has been a  month of celebration for me.  Special K says I must think of it as "the month of me."  It's a celebratory month, sure, but there have been a lot of things to celebrate this month not just my birthday (but yes, that was really great!). 

Every time I skein my newly plied yarn, I feel like I am celebrating a little bit of success (have I mentioned how much I love "making yarn" with a drop spindle?  It's magic, people). 

So, celebrating new skills, that has been big this month.
 
I got a chance to celebrate being a mother (as most mothers did this month).

That was pretty cool (but maybe not as cool as standing all by yourself).

And really, I got a chance to celebrate childhood. Not just my own, which is (in some small way) part of a birthday celebration, but also Little Sir's. 

He has a lot of fun, and I have fun watching him do the kid thing.

And it's always fun celebrating not being just a mom, but also a wife.

So, celebrating family, if you will.

As May comes to a close, I find there is one more thing to celebrate.  It's the whole wife thing again.  Special K and I have a wedding anniversary coming up this weekend.  That's a reason to celebrate, right?  Unfortunately, Special K isn't going to be around this weekend, so that means I have to celebrate alone...or do I?  How about I celebrate with you?  Contests are very celebratory, so let's do that. 

Here's how it goes, leave your guess as to which wedding anniversary Special K and I are celebrating (or how many years we will have been married) in the comments of this post.  You have till Sunday (the 27th) 0600/ 6:00 a.m. EST to enter.  I will draw a name from those who answer correctly.  And just to be sporting, if you received an invitation to my wedding, then you can't play...that just wouldn't be fair, now would it.  Winner gets a gift package o' fun (you know, yarn and other stuff).

So, please excuse me while I go and celebrate...another day of living...

thirty

As always, my birthday celebration was very enjoyable.  Again, I say, if you are ever given the opportunity to celebrate yourself for 8 days, you really should.

On Saturday, I thought I was going out on a lunch date with Special K.  My pal Al was babysitting Little Sir, supposedly they were going to the aquarium. 

No, not so much...

I would have never thought that it would occur to Special K to throw me a surprise party.  I was woefully mistaken.  There was a fun gathering of my (local) nearest and dearest at this place to celebrate my day.  It was fun!

And there was cake (which I didn't make!)...

And there were, of course, presents...for the knitting me...

for the crafty me...

and the most exiting gift...

Aside from all the gifts, I received so many cards and letters that made me smile all week, it was great!  My friend J decided to get in the kitchen and make some Chai mix as well as Tandoori spice mix so I could experiment in the kitchen with Indian food (and she always writes the most beautiful letters.

Speaking of cards and letters, this would be the appropriate time to mention that Brooke won my contest/giveaway.  I ended up using a random number generator (no time for cutting of names friends, I had a birthday to celebrate!).  Thank you all for celebrating my birthday with me! I really enjoyed reading about the ways you all celebrate and the fun gifts you received!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that Kara, Risa and YaiAnn had good birthday celebrations as well! 

Now that all the hullabaloo is over, I have some reading to do!

snap a dozen days, january edition

I figure a good time to reflect on January and its significance to me is the very end of the month. For some people, January is all about renewal, a fresh start and all that.  For me January is all about love, my love for my husband, Special K.

There are so many reasons that I love this guy, but to keep this list bearable I will boil it down, David Letterman style and just give you ten...

10. Special K is goofy. Most people who think they know him really well don't really know about his goofiness because he is usually pretty serious. A good deal of our time together has me rolling my eyes while he yucks it up...

9. He is supportive. When I had a job that burned me out and came home in a crummy mood for about a month he listened to me every single night as I vented about how horrible my life was. When I came home one day and said, "I want to be an archivist." He asked, "how do we make that happen?" And he was totally serious, he didn't even ask me what an archivist was.

8. He puts my needs first whenever possible (and practical).  After figuring out how to make being an archivist happen, you know--developing a plan, Special K changed his career/academic plans to accomodate mine .

7. He is interested in everything I have to say. Now that Special K knows what an archivist is, he listens to me talk about my profession at great length...with interest. I, on the other hand, find his work completely dull (it is over my head really) and I make no effort to fain interest in the technical math-y stuff. I consider this my gift of honesty to him...

6. He is always thinking about ways to make me smile. When we were in Maryland so he could attend some seminar on something technical that I don't understand, he heard about the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on the radio and thought, "hey, my wife likes to knit, I bet she would like to go to that." And he took me there, it was a nice surprise.

5. He is generator of great ideas. After taking me to MDSW and listening to me talk about knitting, wool, Rowan and Koigu ad nauseum all the way back to Connecticut, he suggested that I start a blog (actually, now that I think of it, this means he doesn't have to listen to me talk about knitting as much...huh). Clearly, this would have never occured to me. It still astounds me that anyone is interested in anything I have to say...

4. He is the yin to my yang, the moon to my sun, and all that.

3. He makes me feel beautiful.

2. He is an awesome dad. He likes being a husband and all, but being a dad? That is his thing. He would like to become an "expert dad" and thinks that requires having four more kids. I have suggested that he take this issue up with his next wife...

1. Special K is truly special, and he loves me just the way I am...and if I change, he will still love me.

Good grief, with all this talk of love, WHAT will I talk about next month?