Friday, August 25

Yuck!

Rainy day, yuck!
Gross, right?
Conwy sock #1
Sometimes you just need to knit something pretty.
(Those are the Conwy socks from knitting on the road - a lot prettier in person, I swear!)

Wednesday, August 23

Things I've been doing instead of knitting:


  • I made my first yarn purchase in MONTHS: Sock Hop yarn in Mustang Sally. Was there any way I could have resisted? Really.
    Sock Hop yarn in Mustang Sally


  • We made a trip north to Canada - Saint Adolphe d'Howard, to be exact - for a few days at my grandparent's lake house. Kayaking and floundering in the lake, ketchup chips and Mae Wests.... ah, yes.


  • We tore through 2 seasons of Deadwood - and boy, do we love Deadwood.


  • I geeked out and got heavily into a certain Star Wars video game... and beat it!


  • I ate Indian food for the first time in at least 8 years, in preparation for a lunch with my friend from high school (who I owe an email - sorry, Deb, if you're reading this!) Both the food and my lunch partner were excellent and refreshing.


  • Speaking of food, I roasted my first chicken (success!), made my first batch of biscuits (mild failure, I think I overworked the dough), and worked with yeast for the first time (cinnamon rolls, mmmm).


  • I went home to New York for a while, where I cleaned out a life's worth of junk (but saved shoeboxes full of key sentimental trinkets, papers, scribbles and notes that make little sense to my grown-up self.)


  • A perfectly timed pilgrimage to Jones Beach yielded two very comical sunburns - splotchy legs and discomfort all around! But worth it, I think, for the memories and the sheer volume of dead jellyfish on the sand - ew.


  • The trip was also a chance to see my best/oldest friend, who'd been studying abroad since January and goes back to school in Ohio this week. Someday, we keep saying, we'll live in the same city again. It was beyond lovely to see her, there just aren't any words for it.


  • Returning home from my 5-day absence, I was welcomed by two very cuddly and lonely furballs.
    Briscoe cuddling


  • And the movies! Lord, the movies. Too many to list, or remember? At least Netflix can remember for me. Some favorites include The 400 Blows, The Five Obstructions (for von Trier fans only?), Au Revoir Les Enfants, and Manderlay. Tonight we're going to start watching "The Prisoner" - excited!


  • Finally, Monday was Brian's birthday. My mother took us out to dinner on Saturday night on City Island, but on Monday I made these lasagna rolls - they're delicious, seriously, and you have to try them. Gifts included a signed copy of TC Boyle's latest and a new pair of sneakers to come.


Don't get me wrong - I've had plenty of time to knit and to update this blog. But as I mentioned in my last post (over a month ago!) I've been more than a little preoccupied with life-things. Losing friends, reconnecting with old ones, dealing with my history... it's exhausting! For a while I was very down on my knitting, feeling like the projects I'd started wouldn't fit me when I was done... But! I'm in a good place now. And I'm ready to get back on the horse in more ways than one - exercising, knitting, and blogging!

There's been just one thing, however, that I've been more than happy to knit.....
Brocade front progress