Klosekraft

A good year for the roses

I took a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden yesterday afternoon. The roses around the neighborhood have been pretty spectacular over the last week or so and I wanted to visit the rose garden at the BBG. Unfortunately, they take "June Is Rose Month" very seriously and the garden was LOCKED until 6/1. I'll go back next week, but in the meantime, here are a couple of photos that I managed to sneak.

There won't be a ton of knitting, etc. content this week since I took on a sizable production job for a jewelry designer. I've done knitting and embroidery production in the past and this kind of work is an endurance trial, pure and simple. It's all about finding the most efficient way of producing, in this case, a necklace and doing it several hundred times in a row. Whether or not you find the activity at hand pleasurable in other contexts is beside the point. It has nothing to do with fun and everything to do with producing consistent, high-quality results in the face of what can become mind-numbing boredom. I don't think I can show the pieces, but the necklaces are simple chains with a few charms and clasps, so it's all about cutting the chain and opening and closing links and jump rings. Settling into a rhythm where I don't have to keep picking up and putting down the pliers, where I do all of the plier-related moves at once, is key. Finding that rhythm is the challenge and from there on out, the work can be calming and meditative if I let it. Stretch breaks, delicious snacks and Leonard Lopate are also essential to any production craft session.

New Lace Sleeves

Houston, we have sleevage.

We might have a finished Cece by the end of the week.

The other side of summer, or, oh right, THAT's what a social life feels like

This is the kind of statement that tends to lead to social ostracism, but I have to come out with it: I don't really like the summer. The heat and humidity sap my energy, the stagnant air holds every molecule of stench and doesn't let go until October, the bug bites suck the will to live right out of me (I'm one of those people mosquitoes find absolutely irrestisible and I'm extremely sensitive to them to the point that a simple bite becomes a rock-hard, pulsing mound the size of a nickel and I get them by the dozens. Last summer I was bitten on the eyelid while I slept and my eye was swollen shut for four days. I've tried every commercial and folk remedy I've ever heard of and nothing works.) I just like the structure and texture of everything cool weather, from the clothing and food to the pace and tenor of social life--I prefer generating heat to dispersing it.

That said, one really nice thing about summer is being able to take a last-minute day trip to Fire Island with friends on one of the first hot days of the season. There are no cars on the island and no roads--just a system of bike/footpaths all over the place--the beaches are clean and beautiful, and there are almost-tame deer wandering all over the place. We got within two feet of a couple--it was almost insulting how little mind they paid us. Napping in the sun is one of the summer-specific pleasures that keeps me from moving into the Arctic Circle, the others being fresh produce, afternoon thunderstorms and, um, the first cool day of fall. I actually played Whiffleball for the first time since grade school(?)

The other highlight of the weekend was a hen party for a friend from grad school. Let me tell you, if you're ever organizing one of these things and you have the option of doing it during Fleet Week, do it.

You'd better bet I kept the hat. And also, I'm, like, ten years older than those sailors.

Aw. Imagine how gorgeous she'll be on the actual day. (That's not the groom. He was the bouncer somewhere.)

Secret project #1 revealed

I've had a few gift projects on the needles over the last few weeks, but haven't written about them because the recipients read the blog. I figured it would be more fun to show them with the people who get to keep them anyway.

Here's Erin with her very! late! birthday! socks!

Knitty surprise

You've all seen the surprise up at Knitty,  right? (Click on the 'patterns' tab at the top and scroll to the bottom of the page for the three new projects.)

I think I kind of love that skirt. I don't like it flat, but it looks good on a body. There must be something in the air about joining knitting with a three-needle bindoff. I don't know when I'd get to it, but it's something I'd wear in the fall and winter and not so much right now, so there's no hurry.

Lou Freaking Reed, baby

What a way to start the day. I was sitting at my desk, drinking my coffee, checking the sites I visit daily, when I noticed an item on Gothamist about a free lunchtime concert today to celebrate the reopening of 7 WTC. Apparently, every band/musician playing had some connection to downtown New York, but the only name I needed to see to get me on the train was Lou Reed.

Man, I love me some Lou Reed. Unfortunately, all of the acts were limited to two songs each. He played "Perfect Day" and "Sweet Jane." He made a few pointed comments about John McCain's speech at the New School and how little media attention has been paid to it (prompting someone in the audience to yell out, "Lou Reed for President!"), but the best moment came during Sweet Jane. He stopped after singing the line about sitting down by the fire and looked around and said something about wondering what an apartment with a fireplace would cost in New York. Small laughs. "Yeah", he went on, "New York real estate really is crazy," and I'm thinking to myself, is my beloved Lou turning into a crappy stand-up comedian? And he looked down and kind of shook his head and said quietly, "Who's running this show anyway?" and launched back into the song as people got it and there was a groundswell of laughter and cheers. What makes it hilarious is that the concert was sponsored by Silverstein Properties, owned by Larry Silverstein, one of the most hated (scroll down to #14) people in New York.

Ballsy and funny, that's my kind of guy. Here is the man himself, wearing rockin' yet age-appropriate baggy black leather:

The light was green and so was I

Late last week, I downloaded an album I used to love when I was in high school: The Replacements' Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash. I used to listen to it driving around or on my Walkman when I walked the dog. I'm happy to say that, unlike a lot of things I loved in high school (most of my crushes, wearing pajamas to school, and a certain brand of nihilism, for example), this album stands the test of time. I really like all stages of the Replacements' career arc, but I have a soft spot for the early, punky stuff. They're just such guys. A lot of it is funny too. "Customer" is about a guy who's in love with a girl who works at a store and he never knows what to say to her so he keeps coming up with questions to ask her like, 'where are the twinkies?' and 'do you sell waterbeds?'

That reminded me of a song that I've always really liked that iTunes doesn't have: "My Girl" by Madness (also funny). I did some digging and am happy to report that you can listen to it here.

Saturday afternoon, I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge (one of my favorite things to do; I try to do it weekly) into Manhattan and through Tribeca and Soho to meet some friends for coffee and knitting. While I was dodging tourists on West Broadway, I was stopped short by this lovely sweater in a store window. I think it would be gorgeous knit by hand. Maybe some kind of slip stitch to simulate the pleats?

Friday evening, I went to the Met to see Anglomania, which I really liked. The installation is terrific and the show is really witty and smart. Tae and I had some issues with the way a couple of the mannequins were padded under the costumes, but if you aren't the kind of nerd who is bothered by not-quite-period-appropriate body shapes, believe me, you won't notice. We had dinner after and mine was so incredibly delicious that I had to try to reproduce it yesterday. I think it could stand a little tweaking to get it closer to the restaurant's version, but it was still really good. If the ones I had on hand hadn't turned rancid, there would have been toasted walnuts on top too.

Pascalou Polenta

For the polenta:
4 c water
1 c cornmeal
1 t salt
2 T butter
1/2 c bleu cheese, divided in half

Bring the water to a boil and add the salt. Whisk the cornmeal in gradually, lower heat, and stir pretty much constantly until all of the water is absorbed and it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 15 minutes. Stir in the butter and half of the cheese. Pour onto a cookie sheet or platter and spread out until it's  roughly 1" deep. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

For the sauce:
1 red onion
1 shallot
3 cloves of garlic

1 lb mushrooms (I used crimini, the restaurant used fancy wild ones)
large can diced tomatoes
1 lb asparagus
1 bag baby spinach

Chop the onion, shallot and garlic finely and saute in olive oil until soft. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Snap the ends off the asparagus and cut each stalk into three or four pieces. Simmer until the asparagus is tender. Add the spinach and stir until the leaves are wilted. Serve over polenta and sprinkle with extra bleu cheese if you like.

Cece and pasta and Brooklyn, oh my!

I started knitting Cece a few days ago and am sailing along.

I'm liking this project. The pattern is clearly written and is a nice balance between simple (easy lace pattern) and stuff that needs attention (shaping). I'm using Cascade Pima Silk in color 5140, which looks red onscreen but is actually a delicious shade of rhubarb pink. I think that this kind of yarn should have much higher representation in my sweater wardrobe than it currently does. I almost never knit with cotton, but I realized that this weight is perfect for winter, as counterintuitive as that sounds. As much as I like my woolies and cashmere sweaters, I can only really wear them in the fall and spring when most buildings aren't heated but it still gets cold. Everywhere I go in the winter is too overheated for heavy sweaters. A cotton/silk blend like this is substantial enough to be warm, but not too warm, and it's divinely soft.

Last night, I made one of my favorite quick dinners: pasta with broccoli raab. By this point, I pretty much have the process down and it takes about 15 minutes to make. Also, with the exception of the vegetable(s) themselves, all of the ingrediants are common pantry staples. I love bitter greens and you could substitute or add pretty much any others to this. Broccoli raab plus dandelion greens is a good combination.

You need:
one bunch broccoli raab
enough pasta for two servings
olive oil
garlic
crushed red pepper
seasonings (I use balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil)
saucepan
saute pan, preferably with lid

Start by putting the pasta water on to boil while you gather all of the ingrediants, wash your hands, open a beer... Chop a few cloves of garlic and brown in olive oil over low heat with crushed red pepper to taste. When the water boils, put the pasta in (duh, but for me it's usually right about when I put the garlic in the pan). Rinse the broccoli raab and chop into bite-sized pieces. I discard most of the stems. Add to the garlic and red pepper with a ladle-full of water (if I have some open, I'll use white wine or chicken broth, but it's still delicious with water). Depending on the size of your pan, you might have to add the vegetables in stages, waiting until the first batch wilts to make room for more. When it's all in, stir to distribute the garlic, raise the hat to medium, and cover the pan. The pasta should be done within a few minutes of this point. Drain. Season the broccoli raab. (I add a healthy glug of balsamic vinegar, a shot of soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil.) It has a strong flavor of its own,  so it can handle other strong flavors. Mix the pasta in and let it sit for a few minutes so the pasta can absorb some of the juices. Sometimes I'll eat the whole batch in a sitting, but I usually try to keep half for the next day's lunch. It's also a nice side dish.

A friend is coming to town next month to shoot the pictures for her next book and I've been out wandering around Brooklyn scouting locations today. I'll go to some other neighborhoods tomorrow. These are a couple of favorites:

I walk by this Art Deco doorway pretty often and I've always loved it.

I saw this mural for the first time today. It's just gorgeous. I love the colors and the way it curves around the building.

The ugliest pillow in Christendom

I finished the log cabin half of the ridonkulously ugly pillow and I have to say, it's growing on me. The pictures are showing the colors as much more harmonious than they are in person. You'll have to take my word on this (or stop by if you're in the neighborhood--I have cookies!). I was pleased that I ended up with a just-over-12" square which, while on the puny side, is a standard pillow insert size. The just-over part will end up in the seams.

I'd been having trouble deciding whether to do the back in black or cream. Black looks much better with what's already done, but cream would look better on my couch. I laid out a skein of each for the picture and you know what? I like both of them. Together. Finally (finally!), I have a project where I can use one of those multi-color Barbara Walker stitch patterns that I always like looking at but can't figure out what I'd want to do with it. It'll probably be something in the tweed or houndstooth family, something a little classy. I have a hard time using the word 'classy' seriously, but that's the only thing I can think of offhand to describe the effect I'm aiming for here. I also have a really hard time saying it in anything but a really heavy New Yawk accent, the kind where, when I use it, I want to call everyone 'doll': "Doll, I love your sequined sweater. It's so classy." (The last time I got my hair cut, the woman had the most amazing New Yawk accent I've ever heard in person. She managed to give the word 'fine' two syllables: "Your hair is so FOY-en," she said to me.)

For the record, I don't have any discernible accent, other than a slight New England tendency to flatten some vowels, but I love regional accents.

I'm going to go flip through stitch dictionaries and make some camomile tea with lemon and honey. I woke up with a sore throat yesterday and barely slept last night so I'm afraid I'm about to get walloped by some kind of  bug.

More old projects

I finally finished cutting out quilt squares and have spent the morning laying them out. I keep taking pictures, but every time I look at the pic onscreen, I see things I want to change. I go change the placement, take another picture, look at it onscreen and want to change something else.

So I've stopped taking pictures.

I figured I'd show the rest of the garments I made for myself pre-blog, since it's raining in the northeast (maybe you've heard?) and I can't get good shots of anything else.

This is a skirt in Top of the Lamb sportweight, knit from the top down with the edging attached sideways. It dates back to 1998-1999 when I was really getting into knitting seriously and experimenting with designing.  Since the gauge is on the fine side, it drapes nicely and nearly swirls.

This aran sweater is based on a pattern from Countrywool. I eliminated the ribbing at the bottom and switched out some of the filler cables. The yarn is something Canadian and indestructible. I think I made this in 2000. I remember that when I finished it, I wore it to work twice a week and put it on as soon as I got home on the days I didn't. The fit is more oversized than I tend to go for these days, but it's so classic and perfect that I know I'll keep it forever. I should make another one, just scale it down some.

This is some kind of Noro stuff that looks like dryer lint in the skein, but knits up nicely. I bought the yarn for myself for Christmas two or three years ago. It's a simple, fitted turtleneck with set-in sleeves in a twisted 1x1 rib. I wear this all the time.

I bought the yarn at a shop I will no longer patronize. (it's the one on Atlantic Ave. for you locals) It's a mess, they're overpriced, they rarely stock enough of one color of anything for a sweater and they have looooooong-discontinued yarns on the shelves for full price. It's changed owners in the last couple of years but the stock hasn't changed at all and the last time I was in there, the woman behind the counter had her head down on her arms like she was napping for much of the time I was there.

Wicked simple cropped raglan in lightweight cashmere boucle. The color is actually a very pretty mottled lavender.

Surprise! This is some discontinued Classic Elite yarn (London Tweed, I think) that I bought from Elann for a ridiculously low price. I bought one of the pattern leaflets that was developed for the yarn and knit the sweater with no modifications. I never wear it because the fit is horrendous. The front and back neck are the same so it's constantly riding up and the drop shoulder construction means that there's a huge wad of fabric under the arms. (I know it looks like a raglan in the photo, but it's just the cable panels.)