Friday, August 29, 2008

may i introduce...

i took a couple of days off work this week. one day i just putzed about the house; on the second day, after dropping my sweet friend off at school, i drove into the city to catch the women impressionist exhibit at the palace of the legion of honor. a true delight!

the exhibit is of four painters, berthe morisot, marie bracquemond, eva gonzales and mary cassatt, which is the painter that drew me there. since i arrived as the exhibit opened, i was able to see all the pictures up close and personal. they were amazing. i have long been a fan of mary cassatt but i found myself equally drawn to the paintings of eva gonzales whose paintings were alive, vivid and quite passionate. truly stunning work. each artist had the ability to stop me in my tracks by at least two or three of their paintings.

on the way out, i stopped by the exhibit gift shop and purchased a pack of postcards that included copies of some of the exhibit paintings in hopes of framing a few. also picked up the last copy of one of my favorite mary cassatt prints. on the way home i made a quick stop at cheap pete's frame shop and was able to turn the favorite print into this. i show it here with a hank of sockpixie bambino sock yarn in the mary cassatt colorway. couldn't ask for much more.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

feel the force, luke

i love knitting socks. this past spring i joined the ravelry socks of summer 08 group. and though i will never be able to finish socks as quickly as some can (how can knitters finish a pair in two days!?), i am having a great time knitting them and being inspired by socks others knit.

when i was taught to pick up stitches, the sock guru who taught me suggested not worrying about picking up the exact number of stitches suggested; she always said if more stitches were picked up then more gusset decreases would need to be done, no big deal; the main objective was not to have gaps along the heel or at the gusset. so when picking up stitches, i am always aware of how many stitches need to be picked up, but I am not locked into that number. i tend to pick up the stitches “by feel” of what is needed.

when I picked up the stitches for my cute husband’s second sock, I discovered I picked up more stitches on the first side then I did on the second. hmmm, interesting; did not think much of it, just kept knitting. after picking up stitches for the pair of sport socks I am knitting the big guy, i counted my stitches and realized I had picked up 10 more stitches on the right side then I did on the left. wow! sort of a big difference. though the second side did not look so bad, my scrupulous eye was able to spot maybe the smallest gap or two, but still nothing to frog over.

but it did make me aware that it would be a good idea to pay a wee bit more attention to the number of stitches i am picking up; that I may actually need to mix a little more logic to the “by feel” way of picking up stitches to make sure the sides were even.

sigh. where is yoda when you need him?

btw, discovered a couple of little gaps at the gusset where a stitch or two would have done wonders. rats.
and in case you are interested: pattern: lonnie's sport socks by rebecca mercier, found on ravelry; yarn: lorna's laces, shepherd striping sock, in caramel or harvest, not sure, from purl, nyc

Monday, August 18, 2008

what a delight

so i joined the ravelry "swap on a budget" group where the spending limit was $20. it is always such fun to put together a package to send some one, but it is real fun to get a package. on my doorstep on saturday was this box:



and inside this box was all of this...
who knew so much stuff could fit into a converse shoe box! there was a scarf; a hank of this great kraemer sterling silk and silver yarn that is screaming to become a stole or shawl; a citrus candle, a bottle of wool of the lamb wool shampoo; a cow figurine and udderly smooth hand lotion (yes i love cows!) and two packets of button chocolates, milk and dark! absolutely lovely! i was very excited and grateful. many, many thanks to my secret spoiler. you are the best!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

a phoenix

instead of closing forever, the LYS was sold. it was closed for a little while and had it's grand reopening today. so i moseyed on down, took a turn or two around the store, admired all the new yarns then plopped myself down on one of the comfy chairs and knitted the afternoon away. i finished the second lace capelet (finally!); worked a bit on the big guy's sock and chatted with fellow knitters who also came to sit on the comfy sofas and chairs. i chatted with old friends and made new ones. including an up and coming knitting designer and a math teacher from the local high school who knew the big guy as both a student and t.a.; and who will have my sweet friend as a student in her class later this week! small world. it is so very nice to have a local LYS. yay!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

wheeeeeee!

i am not a gamer person so this was listed on my birthday list as a whim. truly. but it was taken seriously by everyone else, especially the big guy and my sweet friend. and so here it is, for all to enjoy. i have to say, it is a lot of fun to play with. for all of us. wheeeee!

though i know this is a game and is not to be mistaken for the real thing, there is a reason i should not be involved in team sports. seriously.


Tuesday, August 05, 2008

a breath

so this is the first day in about 3 weeks our internet has been up consistently. it has been an eye opening experiment. i may even blog about it but it will be after catching up on my blog reading and after the long line of posts i have in the wings. see you around.