Spinnerin

I've been knitting a pattern from this 1972 copy of Spinnerin. It has a lot of fabulous patterns that I will post and knit later. You can see a photo of the dress I'm making below. I've made a bunch of changes, namely having it stockinette instead of reverse stockinette. I also used a variegated yarn and a contrasting color on the smocking. It's actually done, but I need to snap a photo of Lindsay wearing it.

Green and Black

Eve,

I don't need to use last names because you know who you are. I walked like a lamb behind you in the store that fateful evening before the Yarn Harlot's talk when you purchased the green and black nectar of the gods. I knew you were picky about the chocolate you eat, so I knew it had to be good. I was completely unprepared. I have consumed a small lake of chocolate since that time.

Now I know how Adam felt- oh Eve, you evil temptress.

Camping

Neil and I are taking Lindsay on her first camping trip on Monday. We chose Beartown State Forest as the best spot. First of all, it is beautiful. It's a small park with a small lake. There's a nice trail that circles the lake. It's actually the place where Neil proposed to me. The other reason we chose Beartown is that it is quite close to his parents house in case anything goes dreadfully wrong. I'm not anticipating anything, but we want an out just in case.

So, we're spending a lot of time planning, shopping and packing. I'm not a camper, so I really have no idea what to pack for meals and supplies. We're going to stop by the in-laws on the way up and borrow their big coolers and some plastic bowls and cups. We have a picnic basket w/ plastic plates and utensils. We have an ancient canvas tent that someone gave us and we just ordered sleeping bags.

The funny thing about Beartown is that there actually are bears. Actually it's not very funny. I'm concerned about the whole food/toothpaste thing. They say you should put your food and cosmetics in the back of your car. So here's the thing...we had a friend who worked at Yosemite National Park. He said that putting food in cars didn't stop the bears. One family came back to their car to find their windshield completely ripped off and a bear sitting in the backseat munching on whatever they left inside. Yikes!!

So besides the bears, I'm really looking forward to this trip. Neil predicted that this is going to be one of those ugly New York summers and it looks as though he's going to be right. Tempers are already high. We had a murder on our block last week, where two brothers got into a fight over a bicycle and one shot the other. It was an ugly scene with police in riot gear, police tape crisscrossing the street, dogs trying to sniff and track down the brother who did the shooting, etc. The man who was shot was one of the crazy characters who grew up in the neighborhood who everyone knew.

I'm looking forward leaving the city to do some outdoor knitting. I've packed watercolor paint and paper and will do some painting with Lindsay. She just tried watercolors for the first time a few weeks ago and seemed to enjoy them. I'm looking forward to being where it's green and taking some nature photos. And I'm looking forward to exploring the woods with Neil and Lindsay and finding the spot where we got engaged.

White cardigan

I actually knitted this little sweater for Lindsay last summer when I decided she needed a plain white cardigan for cool evenings. When it was all seamed up, I realized that the arms were *way* too short. So the sweater sat around for months and months. Finally I added a couple of inches on to the arms and body of the sweater. I camoflaged the join with some nice ribbon and voila. The sleeves are still too short (although less so than before) because it took me so flippin' long to make the alteration. Eegads. I can add on to the sleeves more easily this time since they are knitted down. But, I'll probably procrastinate....see where this is going?

SPECS
Pattern: Dotty from Jaeger Handknits JB29
Yarn: Mystery yarn from a cone someone gave me. It's so unbelievably soft I think it might be cashmere.
Changes: I decided not to embroider the little dots on the sweater. I made a couple and they looked awful, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. I lengthened the crazy short sleeves and added a ribbon.

Mother's Day

For mother's day we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It's been a tradition with us since I've been a mother. What a nicer way to celebrate than to stroll around on a gorgeous day and look at lilacs and other amazing flowers blooming? Well, sleeping late was pretty wonderful! Neil let me sleep late and then we had croissants (plain, chocolate and almond) from the super yummy french restaurant that makes all their own bread and pastries. The extra-special surprise was that my sister was in town from Oakland. We haven't seen each other in 2 1/2 years, so it was a real treat.


Neil brought Lindsay home for a nap and Lisa and I got to walk around the gardens at a nice, leisurely pace.


This plaque gives me an unreasonable amount of silly pleasure.


This gorgeous flower was in the tropical hot house. Aren't the colors lovely?


This plant gives a pretty good show of the fertility of spring!

I hope everyone had as lovely a day as we did. We even had a nice grown-up dinner afterwards in the neighborhood.

A Line Skirt

Here's the skirt! I think there's a trend happening. When I asked Neil to photograph me outside w/ the skirt, Lindsay got upset. Flashback to the shawl w/ #20 edging photo. Aack. But, I was able to distract her w/ some flowers and mint. She loves picking and eating herbs.

Sewing class

I've been taking a sewing class at Brooklyn General, which is a wonderful yarn store here in Brooklyn. They've been expanding their stock to include fiber for spinning, fabric and sewing supplies.

I made an A-line skirt out of the Sew U book. I bought the fabric from City Quilter.

I'll post photos of my finished skirt shortly. One of the other women in the class made her skirt out of a gorgeous fabric. I decided to make a dress out of the same fabric. I think I have the bug, because after I finish the dress I'm going to make a shirt out of the Sew U book. I can see how I'm going to have a stash of fabrics to go along with my yarn stash. Very frightening picture.

It seems that Autumn makes me want to knit and now Spring makes me want to sew. Tra la tra la.