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.

Earth Day

We went up to the Berkshires for some good old country fun last weekend. The weather was absolutely breathtaking and warm.

On the way up we visited my grandmother, who lives in Chappaqua, NY. She sold a lot of her land to the Audobon Society, so her yard connects with a nice amount of woods that will never be developed. While we were visiting, we sat in her dining room which has a large picture window on the back yard. Lindsay had fun putting out peanuts and birdseed, and we had fun watching the chipmunks, blue jays, titmouses (titmice??), red bellied woodpeckers, and chickadees diving in to eat. The highlight of the nature parade was a coyote sauntering across her backyard.

On Earth Day we went for a bike ride to Mill River, which is the next small town from Hartsville. We noticed people on the side of the road picking up litter and we decided that it was a great idea for celebrating Earth Day. After Lindsay's nap we went out onto Neil's parent's road with their little wagon. I was shocked at the amount of garbage we picked up. In less than 2/10ths of a mile we picked up over a case-worth of beer cans and bottles.




We also bought some compact fluorescent lights for our closets. Naomi Dagen Bloom of A Little Red Hen was the catalyst for my finally buying them. So what with the litter collection, the bike riding and the cfls, I felt pretty good about celebrating the planet.

The next day we went for a hike up Monument Mountain. This is a hike that Neil's family has done for years. It's a nice moderately steep hike with a lovely view at the top. They laugh because Canyon Ranch takes their clientele up there now. So the Beckermans get a nice spa treatment for free every time they do that hike. Lindsay did well on the trail and fancies herself a mountain climber now. She insisted on carrying my backpack on some of the stretches.

aran lace scarf

I just completed a bulky-weight lace scarf for a fundraiser at my daughter's school. The money will go to the scholarship fund. I also donated private knitting lessons. Both of which I'm hoping someone will think are nifty and bid on.

Anyway the specs for the scarf are:
Takhi Lana yarn
size 15 addi needles
Barbara Walker lace insertion pattern called Dayflower. The pattern gently undulates on the sides, which adds a bit of grace to the lace.

I had knit my daughter a scarf with a worsted weight yarn in the same pattern. Time was limited to make this one for the auction, so I pulled yarn out of my stash that was quite bulky. The yarn looks a lot like aran fisherman sweaters even in the lace. Several non-knitters who saw it mentioned that.

Berkshires

After spending Passover in the city, we drove up to the Berkshires to stay with Neil's parents. Lindsay is on Spring Break until the 12th. Rather than stay in Brooklyn and get caught in a rut, we decided to go to the country.

We visited friends who moved up there from Brooklyn. They have a daughter Ruby, who is one of Lindsay's good friends. We all had a nice time catching up with them. After leaving their home in Ashley Falls, MA, we drove for a minute or so out of town and saw a bobcat flying across the road. It was an amazing animal, running full speed a la National Geographic special. It did stop a second to glare at our car heading right towards it. Absolutely majestic animal. Although it was incredible to see such a beautiful animal, it was out of place where it was, which was a sad reminder of how all of the houses being built up there are displacing its habitat. I hope it finds a good new home. I think it was eating a chicken before we so rudely interrupted it.

I was talking about unusual animals with the owner of a pet store here in Brooklyn. He mentioned that there are colonies of wild parrots in Brooklyn. I can't wait to look for those guys. There's a colony at Greenwood cemetery, which is a gorgeous park-like place that I have never gone to.