Robbed

I was planning this post in my head . . . its title was going to be "My greatest triumph". The entire content was going to be a picture of me next to a score board. Sigh.

Saturday David and I met some friends for bowling. I haven't bowled in years. Back in the day, I was on the Broadway Bowling league for two years. I bowled for the Broadway show 42nd Street. We bowled at the bowling alley at Port Authority. I was not good. Then came yesterday.

First game, a respectable 98. Second game, a less respectable 92. Then came game three. Frame 6 - STRIKE, frame 7 - STRIKE, frame 8 - STRIKE. I was trying to figure out my score (since the machine won't score until there's a non strike to score it off of). Then frame 9 - first ball 9 . . . my score went up, a breathtaking 133 with a frame and a half to go. I was already dreaming of my final score. Then came ball two, I released the ball, SPARE!!!!! So great was my joy, I did not notice the lights had gone off on our lane. We had paid for a set amount of time. Then to my HORROR, my spare was not scored, my last frame was never bowled, and my score was wiped clean.

In one moment,my greatest achievement, turned into my greatest disappointment. This BETTER not be a metaphor for my future.

Late fall harvest, late fall tank top

Summer is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is the first day of fall. Sigh. This time of year used to always fill me with anticipation of the coming season. For years as a kid it was the start of a new school year, then for 20 something years in theatre, it was the start of a new theatrical season. As a knitter it's time to say goodbye to knitting tanks & camis and hello chunky sweaters. This year I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about the future, but that's because of a whole lot of stuff going on with my personal & family life. We cast on. We forge ahead. My favorite mantra from one High Holiday service I went to years ago was . . . I will try, I will fail, I will try again.

We are still harvesting a bunch of late season veggies. Here's yesterday's pickings


And this morning we noticed a few we missed


Since time is running out, today we are going to make tons of pestos, and sauces to freeze. A little summer in the freezer during the cold wintertime.

Just in time for the end of summer, I finally cast off the Lotus Blossom tank





I did a lot of modifications to the pattern so it would fit me nicely. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Now that I finally got that bad boy off my needles, I'm going back to the Cotton Bamboo top that has been languishing in the knitting bag. It's coming along nicely. I feel like this cable pattern is going to take me forever, so I might cast on David's Cobblestone Sweater, and alternate between the two projects.

Since I avoid finishing like the plague, I decided to convert the pattern to in the round. For some stupid reason I thought it would be easier to divide for front and back when I got to the cable pattern. I somehow thought I would have to think too much to convert the flat chart to in the round. That was (of course) dopey. There;s nothing too it, and now I've just created another seam for myself. Curse you mattress stitch!!

Coming up for air (for a day)

The last two weeks have been insanely busy. I just got back from dropping my mom & sister off at the airport. It was a nice visit, but I've been so busy at work I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I'd like. We had a great Brooklyn day yesterday. We went to Prospect Park to see the exhibit on the re imagining of Grand Army Plaza. I hope we're still living here when this gets done For those of you have been here, you know why this is long overdue. The Arch, Baily Fountain, the Farmer's Market, they all sit on disconnected hunks of concrete, seemingly impossible to get to without taking your life in your hands dodging traffic.



After eating our way through all the baked good tables, we headed down to Red Hook for the fall art show (thank you free Ikea shuttle!).




I always enjoy taking folks to Red Hook since it's something so different.

All week I didn't get much knitting done, but I did manage to finish (almost) the Lotus Blossom Tank. It's blocking waiting it's dreaded finishing.

Product or Process

It's been a couple of weeks full of surprises and gifts. A huge life change (more about that later) and being the recipient of a moment of pure generosity.

Are you a product knitter or a process knitter? I am a little of both, but primarily I'm about the product. I want the garment. Sure, I love to knit it, but I want the finished item. In fact, if you ask my husband, it's pretty hard to get me to knit for anyone else. I've knit myself a whole wardrobe! Then there's my pal Kiana or Patrick who will find a pattern they love, or yarn they love and just knit. Patrick usually says "I don't know who I'll give it to, but I have to knit this". Well Saturday I was lucky enough to be with Patrick when he was showing off his latest work. It was a cabled vest made from beautiful hand dyed J-Knits Mohair. It was a soft rose color and it was SOOOO pretty. I told him I loved it, and a few minutes later, he handed it to me and said "I want you to have this". I teared up. Nobody has ever just handed me something so pretty. I was knocked over. Here I am happily wearing a beautiful hand knit, NOT knit by me



My own hand knits are coming along. I've put aside the Cotton Bam Boo Top, so I can finish my Lotus Blossom Tank. I'm doing tons of modifications (like everyone has). It's funny how many people "almost" like this pattern, yet we like it enough to knit it and make it our own. I'm following, as my base, the modifications on Lickety Knit. However, because my gauge is so insane, I have to do a lot of my own. I'm using Alchemy Silk Purse, which is supposed to be 22 stitches per 4"on a US 5. I get 25 stitches per 4" on a US 6!!!!

Here's how it's looking so far


I decreased 28 stitches instead of the 14 called for, and knit the garter rows and another 3/4" of stockinette. Then I increased back up to the original 200 stitches. My gauge is tight and it seemed to fit me better that way. I went back to a US 5 to maintain my gauge when I divided for front and back.

Here's my five lotus blossoms/alien heads (instead of the 4 the pattern calls for)


I love the color variation in the yarn. It really shows up in the stockinette


As for my other news . . . this week I started an exciting new job with Lion Brand Yarn. They are opening a New York flagship Studio, and I was hired as the Studio Manager. I don't want to give away to much right now (stay tuned for details), but it's going to be a center for learning, sharing, & special events. The real focus of the studio is to teach and inspire.

What I've been most struck by in my first week is the passion and dedication of everyone working for Lion Brand. It's a family owned business and has been run by the same family for 130 years, which is pretty special. I have a lot of work to do in the next few months, but it's an exciting project to be involved with. I'm honored to be working with so many people who have such a passion for fiber arts. The design department is a constant buzz developing new yarns, patterns, colors. It's all pretty inspiring.