Holiday Table Setting Made Easy featuring Thomas Lauderdale - Pink Martini's MySpace Blog |

Holiday Table Setting Made Easy featuring Thomas Lauderdale - Pink Martini's MySpace Blog

Here is my gift to all my faithful readers (all two or three of you): a video of Thomas Lauderdale (my favorite Pink Martini pianist) teaching the world how to set the holiday table. After viewing this, I fell head over heels into the Christmas spirit.

My table is set, the tree is up, the cards are mailed, Syvart and Azania are here decorating the tree, David will arrive in 3 days and...................it's snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Holiday blogger friends.

This Too Shall Pass

I'm in a momentary panic. At least I hope it's momentary.

I've been running around all day, getting ready for our trip to the Southwest, which starts tomorrow. Among the many details I had to attend to, I logged onto American Airlines to print our boarding passes. Guess what?????????? They can't print our passes because we don't have seat assignments, and when I tried to get seat assignments, there were no seats left!!!!! This is for a flight I booked July 22.

Deep breath. I did manage to get seats on the other three flights (two going, two coming home = 4 flights). I just haven't managed the initial flight.

Deep breath. I know it will work out. Serenity now. Deep breath. Relax. We will get seats on the airplane in the morning when we get to the airport. Deep breath. I'll be in a canyon before I know it. This momentary glitch will be the least important part of our trip.

Preparing for the Grand Tour

Once again, fortunately, I find myself getting ready for a trip!!! This time, Taylor and I are doing a grand tour of the canyon lands of the Southwest.

I've planned the trip myself. We're landing in Albuquerque NM and departing from the same. We'll be circling east to west and back again. Ten Canyons/National Parks in fifteen days. I'm wondering if I'm out of my mind, or if I'm in my mind. We're skipping all the towns that people assume we'll be going to: Sedona, Santa Fe, Taos and trying to stay off the beaten track. Looking at the map of where we're going, it will be a challenge to bail out if we get sick of beautiful scenery, bumpy roads and winding highways- the only way to get back to "start" will be to continue with the plan, or to backtrack.

Knitting friends will be wondering what the knitting project will be. At this point I don't know. Perhaps one of the UFOs that will be mindless and simple. I definitely need something for the airplane, but I don't think I'll want to miss what we're driving by and I don't see it on the jeep tour of Canyon de Chelly. For once, knitting isn't really fitting into the plan. What does this mean?

We're taking off this coming Friday morning - flight at 6 a.m. Hooray!

Eleanor Roosevelt was a Knitter

This past weekend Taylor and I visited the Hudson River Valley. We toured many of the big estates, among them the home of FDR, Frederick Church's Olana, and one of the Vanderbilt mansions. However, Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage, Val-Kill, in Hyde Park New York impressed me the most.

What I learned from visiting Val-Kill, that I didn't know before, is that Eleanor Roosevelt was a knitter!!!! Apparently this was no big secret back in the day, either. It's just one of those tasty facts that a person like me runs across and can't let go. Eleanor Roosevelt is not known for her home decorating, attention to fashion or involvement with high society. Rather, I think of her as an intelligent woman who was always involved in good deeds for the better of mankind. After all, she was a delegate to the United Nations and a member of the Commission on Human Rights. The fact that she was a knitter confirms for me the knowledge that knitters tend to be amazing people..

I first became aware of the knitting aspect during the movie in the visitor center. There she was, at least three times knitting away!!! The amazing part of this is that the commentator didn't even mention it! Once, she's knitting a sock, with FDR at her side, on the front lawn greeting visitors. Another time, Eleanor and FDR are debating something important (one can tell by the expressions on their faces), and there she is knitting something with a lace edge. Finally, in her cottage, on the footstool by her chair near the fire are a pair of knitting needles complete with red acrylic yarn and her knitting bag (I'm wondering if the knitting is hers, or if some volunteer whipped it up to add to the ambiance of the setting?)

I did a preliminary Internet search of this topic and I found that when she was first lady, every one knew about Eleanor's knitting. She was featured in magazines and she encouraged women to knit for the WWII war effort. People recognized her by the huge knitting bag that she hauled around with her, and she wasn't beyond knitting during United Nations meetings. I learned that in FDR's Presidential Library there is a cabinet of her knitting equipment (wouldn't you know I walked right by the library, exhausted from being a tourist?). Hyde Park knitting groups have had teas and knit ins celebrating the first lady's work, so this part of her is not forgotten, just not known by me, until now.

So my getaway to the Hudson River Valley was most productive. I ate amazing food, enjoyed the country life and learned a tiny bit about one of our first ladies. Having seen her modest cottage and learned about her love of gardening and knitting I find I want to know her. I've started reading her autobiography and hope to eventually know a lot more about her.

Gloves and Mittens Are My New Socks

I'm in love. In love with mittens and gloves, gloves and mittens.

I used to make socks for quick projects. They are easy to take with, they work up quickly, feel wonderful on the feet and most often fit just right. However, people don't usually appreciate hand knit socks on another person because unless you're a knitter you're not looking at people's feet. Another down side, is if I wear them a lot they tend to develop holes and I never get around to repairing them even though I know how.

Well - the answer to this, for me, is knitting items for hands!!! I just finished my Bird in Hand Mittens (one of the mittens that is) and I enjoyed every minute of the process. I can't wait for the first cold day so I can wear them (assuming the partner joins the first mitten).

Can you find the bird? He's in there.

The gloves: before and after embellishment. The first glove was knit the first week of the sprained ankle and coinsided with the death of Michael Jackson. How fitting. I finally finished the second one, and eventually added some decoration to get away from the hand knit white wool gardening glove effect. I think I will actually wear these, and they feel good on the hands.

Now I'm moving on to the Anemoi Mittens that I had to rip out earlier. I bought some Dale Baby Ull that has the proper gauge. We're leaving town shortly, for the Hudson River Valley, so I'll do the knit, knit, knit on my Summer Shell in the car, and save the Anemoi for relaxing at the Inn. Can't wait.

Bird in Hand

It's best to have a bird in the hand, and in this case I have two birds in my hands: a perfect pattern to match my yarn. Yesterday I started these mittens and I am so happy with them. They've got a picot hem, which you can't see since I haven't done the hemming. They have an amazing braid stitch, which was a little tricky. The braid borders the two sections of flowers and leaves. And best of all - the gauge is correct. Sasquatch won't get to wear these babies. As far as my birds in the bush (the yarn I need for the vintage glove patterns), I plan to search for the perfect yarn for them while I'm in Washington DC the next few days. I love my local yarn shop, but a good old fashioned yarn shop crawl (is this an old fashioned concept? I don't think so) will give me a purpose while Taylor is actually having a purpose to be in DC - work.

I've got the names and addresses of a few shops in the area and plan to take my time exploring. I will actually have time to crawl from shop to shop because I'm doing something else, rather dramatic. I'm not taking my computer - no Face Book and no Blogging and no E Mail for 2 full days. It's kind of like giving up coffee.

In the meantime, I haven't forgotten the summer shell. I even plan to work on it in the car. But my enthusiasm has waned. It's just plain straight knitting. No fetching braids, or knitted in vines or birds. Just knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit.......................You see my problem. I do want to wear it though, so I'm just going to have to buckle down and knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit..................

Hand Work

I don't know what's brought it on, but I've got gloves and mittens on my mind. I finally finished my white woolen gloves and I really enjoyed the process. These particular gloves look a little like garden gloves to me, so I'm hoping that washing and blocking will spiff them up, and I'm considering adding some embellishments. I'll post the embellishments when I actually do them. Something for the reader to look forward to.

I enjoyed the glove process so much, that I've found a few great vintage glove patterns with cables that I'm going to make next. However, I'm home at the moment and don't have the right yarn, but I've got some yarn that I bought at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival last spring, so I'm going to move into mittens.

I have admired Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens for a long time and last night seemed like a good time to start them.

My Anemoi Mitten is so over. I spent a few happy hours with one of them, last night and this morning. It has that wonderful tubular cast on that I raved about. It also has this wonderful corrigated rib that I had never done before. Unfortunately, I started knitting it in DK instead of fingering so it will, as it is, fit Sasquatch. Therefore, I took its photo to remember how much I love it and ripped.

I've still got mittens on my mind, and I've got this particular yarn Snow Star Farm yarn, so I turned to the actual pattern that I bought to go with this yarn. It's a more standard Norwegian mitten, but it doesn't t have the free flow feel that I love in the Anemoi. My memory kicked in, and I recalled that I've had Kate Gilbert's Bird in Hand Mittens in my queue for a while. When I checked the needed yarn I discovered that the guage required is exactly what I was getting for my Anemoi Mitten. What luck!!!! Thanks to Ravelry and Pal Pal I got the pattern in about 5 minutes and I'm going to start as soon as I finish this post.

Anemoi, I still love you, and when I find the perfect fingering yarn, you will once again be on my needles.

Saturday at Valley Green

What to do on a hot Saturday when I can't actually hike Forbidden Drive? Go to the Valley Green Inn, sit on the front porch, sip iced tea and eat a yummy chicken salad sandwich. Since I forgot to bring my book, or my knitting, and since Taylor has to come home to work, I'll just take that knitting and that book out to our own patio, crank up the water feature and enjoy the rest of the day. The lazy days of summer......................

Thank You, Andrea Pomerantz

Thank you Andrea Pomerantz for designing and publishing such a great sweater pattern. I learned many different techniques while working on this and enjoyed every step of the way.

"Architectural ribbing flows smoothly from the waist into the deeply ribbed hems of the Diminishing Rib Cardigan creating a structured A-line shape," says Andrea. I couldn't have described it better myself.

Rhubarb Pie without the Pearls

I'm feeling much friskier today so I am the victim of being easily influenced by others. Last week my mother told me about baking herself a rhubarb pie. Then I saw Julie Julia. Now I've just put my own rhubarb pie in the oven! Oh yes. But it hasn't been as easy as one would think. Here's my story.

I mentioned during breakfast that a rhubarb pie would be nice. Taylor jumped right on that band wagon. So after breakfast we went to the local farm stand and picked up some great looking rhubarb. Young, slender stalks which had a nice dark pink coloring.

Now, the question of which recipe? My mother found hers on the internet, but I was more in the mood to pour through cook books, so I took about 6 of them out onto the patio, put my foot on my footstool, made room for Bob, and started perusing. Julia Child didn't have a recipe. Several recipes were similar, and quite simple. Then I came upon the recipe in The New Best Recipes Cookbook, put out by Cook's Illustrated. They, of course have a big long article before the recipe convincing me that theirs is the only decent recipe in the world. I said I was easily influenced. And now I'm off and running (or I should say cooking).

One of the first rules of knitting is read the instructions and that is also true for cooking. After reading the recipe, I discovered that I didn't have all the ingredients, but Taylor was more than willing to go out for strawberries, one orange and arrowroot. The next item on my agenda was to prepare the work surfaces. In my case that meant removing all the miscellaneous crap that had piled onto the kitchen counters over the past 2 ½ weeks. Mail, dog leash, box of wine, books, newspapers all had to go, and I cleaned the surface as well. Last, I had to prepare myself. I selected a nice apron with Pike Place Market 2003 on the front, tied it in front and added a clean kitchen towel, folded over at my waist – just like Julie and Julia! I wanted to add my pearls but thought going up the stairs on my foot would be overkill. When I asked Taylor to go fetch them for me, he said he'd rather just pour me a glass of wine. Next time I'm wearing pearls.

Finally, it was time to cook. I started with the crust. I have a pretty good, reliable recipe that I always use, but The New Best Recipes says theirs is better, so I, against my better judgment, followed the instructions for theirs. It involves 1 ½ cubes of butter and ½ cup of shortening!!!!!!!!!!!! Egads. The fat and caloric content!!! Oh well, neither Julie nor Julia seemed to worry about fat, so I'm not worrying about it either, even though I haven't done a lick of exercise since spraining my ankle.

With the pie crust dough chilling in the refrigerator, I moved on to the filling. Slicing rhubarb and quartering strawberries were a pleasure made more so by my new Cutco knives. Of course, by now the caffeine from breakfast coffee, and diet coke Taylor brought back from his grocery store run, kicked in so I was in the zone. When I started sautéing the rhubarb, Taylor sounded a little concerned but he knew to leave me alone. I continued on, following directions step by step. I rolled the crust, chilled the sautéd rhubarb, grated the orange peel, preheated the oven, gently added the filling, and crimped top and bottom crusts. I was about to brush the top with my egg white/sugar mixture when I reread the instructions. Oops! I thought the instructions said, add 1 T sugar to the egg white, mix, and paint over the pie crust. How I knew to reread I don't know, but the instructions actually said, "Brush the top of the crust with the egg white and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar." How easy it is to misread instructions. I toyed with the idea of painting on my egg white/sugar mixture, but quickly talked myself out of it. I dumped it in the sink, got a fresh egg white and followed the instructions. Yeah me.

Finally, I put the pie in the oven. I started cleaning and couldn't wait to see, and taste, the final product. I knew I needed to pay attention to the baking because I was going to have to change temperature in the oven from time to time. When the crust started to smell done I went to the oven and checked – oh my, it was already dark brown and I was barely into the time it needed to bake. Back to the instructions. Ah yes, I neglected to turn the temperature down from 500 to 375 when I put the pie in, in the first place. What to do? I wasn't about to throw this out, so I lowered the temp immediately to 350 and quickly made a little foil collar to place on the crust to keep the edges from burning (I saw this idea in the instructions for pie crust).

So, I made it pretty much through to the end before goofing up in the instruction department. This seems to be an issue for me whether I'm knitting or cooking. I do think Julia would have been kind about it, if I were her student though…don't you? I have no idea how it's going to taste, but I suspect it will be spectacular. Come on over and have a slice.

(Note the apron and the dish towel. The pearls are in the drawer.)

Elizabeth Julia

Last night Taylor and I were lucky enough to snag two free tickets to a sneak preview of the new movie Julie Julia. It's about a young woman, Julie, who cooks her way through every single recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year. As she slices and dices Julie blogs because what she really wants to be is a writer. She happens to like cooking so it becomes her subject. While Julie is cooking herself and her husband into a frenzy a second story is running - the life of Julia Child and how she happened to learn to cook and to write her first cookbook.

I absolutely loved the movie. It was so uplifting, funny, and touching. It also reminded me of me, and all my fellow bloggers who write about knitting. What's the connection, you ask? The connection is Julia Child and Elizabeth Zimmerman. Julia is to French cooking, as Elizabeth is to knitting. Just like Julie prepared every one of Julia's dishes, I have thought about knitting every one of Elizabeth's patterns. I don't think the movie has inspired me enough to do this but I have had the thought, and I do write a blog about what I do knit. I just bet there are some knitters out their who have knit their way through the Knitters Almanac, and possibly blogged about it. I know there are bloggers who have developed large followings of readers, as Julie eventually did when writing about Julia. Perhaps I found this so charming because I recognized the process of Julie and Julia from a knitter's perspective.

So how, exactly are Julia and Elizabeth alike? They each have a passion. Both married really nice men, who supported their endeavors even though cooking and knitting weren't exactly the kind of activities women's libbers approved of in the years of the 60s and beyond. They both wrote books, shared their knowledge through teaching, and had TV shows long before programs about food, crafts, etc became commonplace. I think they both had amazing senses of humor as is evident in their writing and TV performances. The two of them made mistakes and realized their viewers/readers also would make mistakes. They made us comfortable with being human.They made it "okay" to enjoy some of the "womanly" crafts.

And how are all us bloggers like Julia? That's pretty obvious I think. We have a passion for our knitting and we vent our frustrations, and pat ourselves on the back through our writing. We get ideas for new projects, new techniques, designers and products from reading each others blogs. Julie was hoping to become a published writer. I think most of us aren't that ambitious, but blogging helps sort out our thoughts about something we love.

Whether you're a cook, a knitter, or a blogger I hope you'll see this movie. Even my husband, who loves to eat, only cooks occasionally, and tolerates my knitting, enjoyed the movie. As Julia and Elizabeth always said,

"Bon Appetit" and "Good Knitting"

Footstool or Tuffet?

The last few mornings I have awakened to an ache in the back of my leg. It took me a while to figure out that possibly this is due to sitting on the patio with my leg resting on a small wooden table. I think maybe the combination of ankle brace and wood surface has been aggravating my muscles, or some such thing.

Therefore, I got a pillow to add to the table and sure enough my leg already feels better. However, Bob decided that my new footstool arrangement is also good for him. So what is my new creation? A footstool for me or............

a tuffet for Bob???????????

A Perfect July Afternoon

This has been one perfect summer day. It started at 9:30 when my friend Linda came over and we drank coffee on the patio. When she left, I read the paper, ate lunch and enjoyed the warm air, interspersed with a cool breeze and listened to the trickle of the fountain. I continued in perfect heaven, adding a little knitting project, and I

finished one white wool glove!!!!! A perfectly satisfying summer project.

About the glove: knit in white wool sport yarn from Mission Falls. It knit up in a breeze and both the yarn and the pattern were a pleasure to work with. Unlike cotton, wool hides flaws and feels fantastic on the hands. I know it will feel good in the winter. It's a little plain, what with the white and all (it kind of reminds me of a garden glove). I had intended to add a fetching little cable, but as a first time glover I found I had my hands full with a thumb and four fingers. Can't wait to knit the second one and I have an idea for a little embellishment.

Now, to complete my lazy summer day, I'm off to fix some ice tea, grab my book and return to the patio. I may pick up the summer shell later on.

It just occured to me that if I hadn't had my ankle incident, I wouldn't have had a chance to have such a nice day. Hmmmmm..............

Knitting News

Diminishing Rib Cardigan is complete and this morning I washed and blocked it. The hard part is waiting for it to dry. I complained earlier of cotton/bamboo showing all irregularities and I hope that I'm wrong. It's looking pretty darn good already and that tubular bind off has smoothed out nicely.

Summer Shell is coming along. I'm about 5 inches into it and enjoy the color changes of the variegated nubbly yarn. However, it's knit, knit, knit with no variation on little tiny needles to get the correct guage, and I'm loosing interest. I thought it would be a nice pallette cleanser after Diminishing Rib but I'm cleansed already so...................

I started knitting gloves this morning. Now this is a quick and challenging activity. I'm using Ann Budd's directions in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and I'm looking for a good cable to insert on the back of the hands. Between thumbs, fingers, cables I'll be so entertained I'll be dying to go back to my Summer Shell. Did I mention that this is my first attempt at gloves? Oh, yeah.

Nice and Delicious

I've been so busy feeling sorry for myself that I hadn't noticed what a delicious life I have until Sasha and Diana pointed it out. They are right, of course. How many times have I wished my life would slow down so I could appreciate it? About a zillion. Well, things have slowed way down and aside from feeling a little helpless it's not so bad. Now I'm off to watch day time TV, read my book and knit. And I can do all 3 at once.

Small Life, Big Project

Here's what happens while trying to take self portraits: the pictures turn out a little funky. But, I had to report that while watching first, Serena, and then Venus, whoop those Russians, I managed to finish up the Diminishing Rib Cardigan. It was well worth the effort and even though I did a little whining along the way I enjoyed learning some new techniques - tublular bind on and bind off; I cord edging; increases on ribs.

More pictures when it's been washed and blocked and I have nerve to ask Taylor to take pictures. He's quite busy taking care of this invalid and maintaining a more than full time job. I'm afraid that a photo shoot would put him over the edge.

10 Good Things About .....

It's been almost a week since I took my nosedive on the lawn in front of my house. My ankle is still talking to me, and I'm trying to make the best of being couched for what seems to me a very long time. In trying to make myself feel better, I'm listing the good things that are happening due to my accident. Here they are:

1. I check my email and face book everyday - often many times a day.
2. I finished reading a murder mystery, Payment in Blood, Elizabeth George, and didn't figure out who the murderer was (Is this good?).
3. I have watched more Wimbledon than any other year.
4. I started reading Stubborn Twig, Lauren Kessler.
5. I have almost finished knitting the Diminishing Rib Cardigan and figured out how to do the tubular bind off along the way.
6. Taylor has brought me every single meal since last Wednesday.
7. I haven't made the bed.
8. I haven't done dishes.
9. I've increased my percentage of wins for Spider Solitare to 21%.
10. I've caught up on all the episodes of Nurse Jackie, and the new season of Weeds.

I can see my life has become very small.

The Tubular Bind Off Rocks

Something good has come from my ankle mishap. I have to stay on my tuckus, doing nothing active. I've had time to read, and reread how to do the tubular bind off and I did it!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!!!! It was worth the effort.

It's nice and stretchy and doesn't have that end of the knitting appearance that you get with a regular bind off. I can see all kinds of uses for it when I want my knitting to just hang straight and not pull in at the end of the knitted piece.

My only regret is that by knitting the Diminishing Rib Cardigan in cotton/bamboo every irregularity shows. Therefore my tubular bindoff doesn't look as smooth as I think it would look in a more forgiving yarn - like wool. However I will keep in mind that I haven't washed and blocked this yet.

Sh#^&%%#^%$*!!!

Two days ago I was strolling on the lawn in front of my house with my little dog, Bob, enjoying the gorgeous morning, anticipating going to my Jazzercise class, when I found myself sprawled undecorously on the ground. Tears streaming down my eyes, dog staring at me in wonder, I was sure I had broken both ankles. I had stepped into a shallow pit, covered with grass. In an instant my summer plans dissolved into something I never anticipated. All that tennis, Jazzercise and line dancing.......I don't know if I was experiencing tears of pain or disappointment.

Usually my neighborhood is crawling with early morning dog walkers, and children going to the bus stop. Would you believe there was no one in sight? The landscapers rolled in and passed me by. I guess seeing women sprawled on the lawn is all in a day's work for them. Realizing I couldn't just lay there, I finally crawled to the curb, sat up and eventually got to my feet and hobbled to the house.

Taylor and I checked the internet for medical advice. We learned that most people with sprains don't need to seek medical care. Ice and/or warmth and elevating the ankle are all that is needed. So I did just that. By 11:00 a.m. the ankle was quite swollen, in places where it really didn't hurt, and I was having trouble standing and walking.

I called the doctor who wanted to see me. He sent me for xrays and by the time we walked into the house, after being at the hospital, the doctor was on the phone telling me I had a fracture.

The next day I went to the orthopedic doc who fitted me with an attractive black lace up and velcro boot. He told me to take it easy and return in 3 weeks. I should be back up and functioning in 4-6 weeks. So much for my summer of fun. I suppose this experience is telling me I need to find more sedentary fun. Of all the physical problems a person could have, this is minor. I will survive.

But...............I don't do sitting around

The Tubular Blues

I'm at that point in my Diminishing Rib Cardigan, featured on the cover of Interweave Knits Spring 2009, where I'm nervous about finishing but excited to have a complete sweater. I've finished the body and have been tackling the tubular bind off.

Since I knit the beginning of this sweater more than twice, I promised myself to read directions carefully and follow them so the rest of the sweater would be knit once. I admit I did a little branching out on this sweater, because I wanted the waist ribbing to be closer to my waist that the pattern calls for. I also measured a favorite sweater for length and made all adjustments needed to get a good length for me.

Yesterday, measurements were in order, so I followed the directions as written for the tubular bindoff and although it looked horrible I perservered thinking the pattern has got to be right and as I continue things will look better. I did the set up row and about 2 inches of binding off before I came to grips with the fact that things were wrong. So I ripped out the 2 inches which was extremely slow going, and took out the set up rows.

After examining my knitting I realized that I had gotten off track by slipping stitches where I should have knit, and knit where I should have slipped. I should have read my stitches as well as the pattern. So I did the set up rows again and decided to reread the instructions before starting the bind off. And there it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The part that said knit 1x1 ribbing
for 1 ¼ inches. So I did a few rows of 1x1 rib and just now rechecked the directions. There is no part that says knit 1x1 ribbing for 1 ¼ inches for the hem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The directions say that for the waist shaping. Oy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It would appear that my eyes drifted to another spot on the pattern entirely. I seem to becoming completely incompetent.

My question to myself now is shall I rip out those extra rows of 1x1 rib, or leave them?

I'm dreading trying the tubular bind off again, but determined to get it right.

I really want to move on to the sleeves.

Perhaps I need to set this aside and work on the Momogus V Neck Shell as a palette cleanser?

A-w-w-w-w-

Isn't Alice Mae cute in her lacey cardigan?

Workout/Media Center Upgrades

In April I talked Taylor into ordering a treadmill. He loathes public gyms and has spent many years working out on a Nordic Track in our various basements. I have to give him credit for being so dedicated. However, having worn out the original Nordic Track, buying a second one that fell apart immediately and accepting a sturdier donation from a friend we have both come to the conclusion that he has passed his Nordic Track prime. We've got 3 NT carcasses in the basement and it's time for something new and less traumatizing to the body.

Where else to buy a treadmill but from Costco, online? We didn't consider the fact that Costco would ship this thing to us and it would be up to us to get it to the basement and set it up. It arrived in the pouring rain and the trucker schlelped it into the garage and took off. So there it was - 230 pounds- in the middle of our two cars in the garage.

Just try to find someone to move something like that. Our neighbor suggested Tony, who was conveniently listed in his Blackberry. Tony sounded enthusiatic over the phone but failed to show up, and failed to return calls. The original shipping company told me over the phone they aren't allowed to enter homes. Moving companies want to move entire households.

Finally, one month after delivery, we found a moving company on the internet who does small jobs. They agreed to move the treadmill into the basement. The woman told me over the phone that I had these guys for 2 hours so I could have them do whatever I needed. I asked about sweeping the basement - sure. Well, when the 3 husky young guys got the treadmill into the basement and asked if they could do anything more, I had a better brainstorm than sweeping. I asked them to assemble the beast. And they did!!!! It took 3 of them 2 hours but it would have taken us another month to accomplish this feat. I am forever thankful to these young men!

Here's the our Workout/Media Center after installing the new treamill. Notice the black and white TV - that's the media.

Things went along swimmingly until yesterday morning when Taylor worked out. Just like the TV commercials had been telling us, those of us with old black and white non digital TVs wouldn't be able to get a picture after this Saturday. We, of course, didn't think this applied to us, but sure enough it did. No Media in the Workout/Media Center on Saturday.

So we go off shopping for a new TV and guess what? They don't sell regular old time TVs anymore. We aren't quite ready to get into the big fancy flat screens but flat screens are all that're available nowdays. Finally, Taylor selected a 19" TV and brought it home. He took our little bitty color TV from the kitchen down to the basement and replaced it with the new 19" flatscreen. Now we look up to date in the kitchen, and he can watch TV while working out.

Here's the new updated Workout/Media Center. By the way, the object on the left is the treadmill. Nordic Track is on the right with a pink towel on it. Taylor reports that while the TV picture is little, being in color makes it more entertaining. And it's all about the workout anyway.

Chocolate High

I think I've finally figured out how other people manage to write regular blogs: they eat chocolate. Yep, that's what has happened to me. I actually cooked a nice dinner - pork tenderloin, rice and kolrabi cole slaw. That didn't satisfy us. Both Taylor and I desired a little dessert so I whipped up a batch of brownies after dinner. Big mistake. Brownies before bed has left me with a chocolate high. So, after tossing around in bed, I'm up knitting and thinking it's a good time to blog.

Here's the latest in knitting at my house. I'm chugging along nicely on the Diminishing Rib Cardigan from the Spring 2009 Interweave Knits. I'm actually getting close to the bottom which means I'm starting to be a little concerned about learning how to do the tubular bind off. It will work out, I'm sure. Just a little pre completion anxiety. I have to remind myself I managed the tubular cast on so what's to keep me from the bind off?

In the meantime, I noticed that the June/July Tangled Web knit along is the Summer Shell designed by no other than Momogus. Should I join in, or not? Of course I should. So I went down to the Web on Wednesday and picked up some nubbly Waikiki yarn in a color called Cool Jazz. It has blues/purples/greens. It's been sitting in it's bag calling me for several days but I've been focused on the Diminishing Ribs.

Well, after late night chocolate, Cool Jazz finally won. Here I am, making my swatch and starting the Summer Shell in the middle of the night. I cast on my 208 stitches without running out of yarn, and I've completed two rows. I'm hoping that I've got things set up properly so I don't have the mobius business going on. The circular needle is all wonky, the nubbly yarn is hard to control, I'm doing seed stitch and it is the middle of the night. I've checked and doubled checked but who knows how things will look in the morning? I forgot to mention that I don't actually have the pattern either. Diana (Momogus) was all sold out of the V-neck pattern so she just told me how to get started. I've got my notes scribbled on a piece of scrap paper that I found in my purse. If that isn't trust, I don't know what is. She'll get the pattern to me next week, so I've got enough info to start.
I cannot believe I am up so late!!!! I think I'll go knit a few more rows and perhaps read my book in hopes that exhaustion sets in soon. After all, I always get up early and a lack of sleep won't be good at all.

Bloggable Moments

It is pitiful that it's taken so long to get back to my blog. So much for the spontaneity and immediacy of blogging. In the last blog I whined about my refusal to follow directions (notice that I didn't write inability – I know I have the ability, my mind just refuses) and the constant need to rip. I also carried on about not liking my finished project. Oy, what a whiner.

So what have I been doing? I went on a trip to Brays Island, Savannah and Charleston. My, that would have been wonderful blogging. I've been to a number of wonderful nurseries and planted my garden – as small as it is. I've done a whole bunch of home improvement projects all of which were blog worthy. Especially the project about living with a 230 pound treadmill smack dab in the middle of my garage and getting it hauled down to the basement and assembled. Not only was that a major event in our lives, it was accomplished in less than a month- or maybe a month exactly. I also managed to get a good size painting project done. I haven't been idle.

Well…………………all those bloggable moments lost. But today's event will go recorded.

My wonderful husband came to me while I was working on my morning beauty routine in the bathroom. It turns out that he needs a photo of himself immediately. "Work" has been requesting a photo for two weeks, and he, who hates to have photos taken of him, blew off the requests. Well, "work" took the upper hand and used his mug shot where he insists he looks like a jack o lantern and that snapped hubby into submission. "Can you take a photo now?" So I left my own beauty routine half complete, grabbed the camera and here's what I got:

Not bad for 7 in the morning. Now, back to my own beauty routine.

Knitting on the Road

The crisis has been averted, but................I'm still not happy.

About a week after I ran out of green yarn for the shrug/vest, the ever brilliant and conscientious Tangled Web ladies presented me with the skeins of yarn that I needed to finish the project. These women are indeed geniuses who somehow searched the country for the two different skeins that I required. I piled said shrug and requisite yarn in the car with a few other knitting projects for our trip to Savannah and Charleston. After many unsuccessful miles of working on my diminishing rib cardigan, I was in need of positive reinforcement so I took up the shrug to complete on our second day of driving. I finished the knitting, sewed up the seams and stuffed it back in my bag.

When we reached our destination I tried it on and.........................yuck, I don't like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I simply don't have the shrug type body. Why did I not notice this before starting this project? Oh I know why: I wanted a simple project to do while waiting for my cotton bamboo, AND the shrug looks great on the midget size manikin in the Tangled Web window. Well.............it was simple, I finished in less than two weeks, and it too would look good on a manikin.

So, I'm letting it sit for a while and then I think I'll rip it, rip it, rip it, and make either Elizibeth Zimmerman's Rib Warmer from her Knitting Workshop, or Sally Melville's Asymmetrical Vest, in Book 1: The Knit Stitch.

Continuing on our low country sojourn, and still in need of some positive reinforcement, I started knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Sweater on Two Needles from her Knitting Workshop. I knit this several years ago with great success for baby Chloe, and I thought it would be perfect for the new baby, Alice Mae. And, isn't it adorable? It is perfect for Alice Mae who was born on April 7, one day after my birthday. Alice Mae is named after my mother, and her own grandmother. A very special baby indeed.

The sweater, however, caused me some grief. Since I had knit it before I didn't bother checking the glossary for special instructions and just started knitting. After finishing the yoke, and about an inch of lace, I realized that the increases looked horrible. I had done all my M1s by picking up the horizontal bar. When I finally checked the glossary I saw that EZ wanted me to make a simple backward loop for M1. Rip, rip, rip. It's funny how, when following directions, things often work better. I also have to admit that it isn't the sweater that caused me grief, it's my own impulsivity (not checking the directions).

After the initial blunder, the sweater knit up well and by the time we got home I had finished the yoke, a bit of the lace and one arm. I did branch out from the directions on the arms in that I knit them in the round, thus avoiding sewing seams. I was happy for this improvisation and I think EZ would have approved. The next day I finished the second arm, and a few days later the rest of the sweater was complete. I've washed it, blocked it and sent it off in the mail for little Alice Mae. I'm hoping she hasn't out grown it by now - you know how babies do that?

Happy Mother's Day

Alice and Jamar

1955

Crisis

I'm having a knitting crisis:

I'm almost finished with my lime green wool shrug/vest – only 1 inch to go!!!! And I'm out of yarn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ran down to my LYS to get more and would you believe they don't have any more of either of the two yarns I'm using? They are going to do some kind of a search to see if they can locate more for me. In the meantime, I suppose I should think of a creative way to finish the project with maybe a stripe of a different color. Or perhaps I should not think about it, in hopes that I get more of the same yarn?

In the meantime I'll start swatching for the Diminishing Rib Cardigan. I've got this yummy Cotton Bam Boo yarn. Can't wait to try it.

I also appreciate the fact that my crisis is only in my knitting. It's not a terribly serious crisis in the big picture. Thank goodness.

Old Blog, New Tricks

This is a quick test to see if I can write in Word and publish on my blog. If we can read this, it can be done.

Oh my goodness, it worked.

An old dog is learning new tricks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a rainy day in Manhattan

This is what we did yesterday, a rainy day in Manhattan:

1. buy our all day Fun Passes for the subway
2. coffee and rolls at Corrado Bread and Pastry at Lex & 70th
3. visit the Fricke Collection. we went to see the 5 paintings on loan from the Norton Simon collection, and were wowed by the entire place. we will definitely be back.
4. too wet to explore the knit shops in the neghborhood, so we took the subway down to the West Village
5. lunch at A Salt and Battery. possibly the best fish and chips ever. only 7 stools, but we perservered and got 2 stools by the time our fish was ready. while sitting in the window, munching our fish, we watched both the hipsters and the yoga practioners walk by.
6. a very long stroll in the rain to the Lion Brand shop. they had a darling window, but guess what? Closed for Easter holiday.
7. a very long trudge back to the subway and home

I don't think I've been as wet since I was a little girl in Portland, Oregon, walking to school in the rain. Taylor reminded me that we had a wet day in Manhattan with Syvart about 5 years ago. Then I remembered a very wet hike along the Washington coast with our friends the Andrews, and our 4 children. Of course, Cheryl and I used to get soaked running in the rain in Olympia, Washington. I've been wet before. Each time just feels the wettest.

By the way, we've got blue sky and sunshine today.

Jay Ford

1942-March 27, 2009

I MUST go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way,

where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Sea Fever, by John Masefield

We will be toasting you, Jay, on April 19 at 3:30 PST. We miss you.

April Hibiscus

Boy, was I excited when I came downstairs this morning.

This is why:

I had to walk all around it to believe what I actually saw.
This is one of two hibiscus that sat on my front porch last summer.
I decided to bring this one indoors for the winter to see what would happen.
Now I wish I had brought both of them inside.
Now I know what happens.
Good things happen.

Happy Spring, Happy Birthday

When I took Franklin Habit's lace knitting workshop the other weekend (yes, I was in the same room with the real Franklin Habit, blogger superb, in addition to being a mighty fine knitter) - he told me the secret to being a good blogger was to blog daily. Well, that seems near impossible to me because I have so little to say. However, today is my birthday and I bought myself a present worthy of blogging about: an orchid - or to those of us now in the know, a Phalaenopsis.

Here it is. I want proof that I actually had a Phalaenopsis for a while, hence the photo. I received one as a gift when we lived in Connecticut and I killed it within 2 months. I'm newly inspired by both my friend Gretchen and my uncle Gordon, who both grow orchids successfully.

Isn't it pretty in the close up? I'll retake the photos in 4 months and see what I've got. I think I may have to research how to take care of this baby - which will cut into my blogging time.

In addition to Phalaenopsis, I succumbed to adding a Spring Cactus to my houseplant collection. Now, I have not had a houseplant since I was in college, so I wonder if I'm having a midlife crisis - two houseplants in one day. Anyway, my mother in law always had a huge, and I mean HUGE, Christmas Cactus. It looked just like this one, except it had red flowers. I have no idea if it's the same plant or a different one from hers, but I thought, "Why not?" and took it to the cash register with Phalaenopsis (I hope if I say and write the name enough times I'll remember what it is).

So, happy spring indoors, and happy birthday to me.

Camp for Grownups

March 17 - 20
March Madness at Mohonk Mountain House.

This was my annual girl trip to Mohonk Mountain House.

I've had people say to me, "Why do you go there? What is there to do? They don't even have TVs in the rooms?" That is exactly why I go there. There's not a lot to do, and there are no TVs in the room, and cell phone connection is bad. But the place has a serene beauty that reminds me of the Northwest. Actually, it makes me think of camp - for grownups. It's the kind of place where you put your regular life to the side, and simply soak up the atmosphere and live for the moment. In too short a time, you go back to real life - refreshed.



This year, when Lisa, and I got to our room, one little Mohonk fox greeted us with a banner across his chest saying, "Welcome Back." We both fell in love with the little guy, and when the bellman asked if there was anything he could do for us, we said, "Yes. We have one little fox, but two of us are sharing the room." He said, "I'll take care of it." And he did. Shortly afterward, a person from housekeeping showed up with another fox. My fox now lives on my bedside table, reminding me of the peace of Mohonk.

The first day we were there was Founder's Day. After dinner we had our picture taken with Albert Smiley. He looks pretty good for being over a hundred years old.

The next morning, Lisa and I hiked up to Sky Top. Taylor and I had been there in December - on skies. Now there was no snow and I got a good look at the tower. There'a a fireplace on the first floor. This would be a good spot for hot cocoa and a sit by the fire. But this is Mohonk - no touristy stuff here.

Then we climbed up all 102 steps to the top. It was pretty darn cold up there, as well as windy. I was very happy to have my ear muffs.

After doing Mohonk things all day - yoga, nature walks, hiking, knitting, reading, massage, soaking in the mineral pool, sitting by the fire - we got ourselves cleaned up for dinner.

In December I skied on these trails. On this March day it was foggy and drippy in the woods. It almost looked like a fall day with the leaves crunching beneath my feet, but I could smell spring.

I love the surprise of an occasional summer house along the cliffs.

I also love hiking along and not seeing any other people.

For a Northwest girl, Mohonk has become one of my favorite East Coast destinations. Camp for grownups.