Klosekraft

Out and about

Not much creative stuff going one here, other than continuing edits on the book, but I'm not (just) sitting around eating bon bons either. I went to the season opener of the Brooklyn Cyclones last week:

Minor league games are a lot of fun. They're not afraid to be silly, and have people in hot dogs suits run races between innings or people in giant hamster balls trying to knock over giant bowling pins.

No one was a fan of the illegible graffiti font they used on the screen, but otherwise, seeing the Cyclones rocks. (That's the Staten Island Yankees they're playing, btw.)

Clearly, I need to step it up in the fan-gear department. And also put on some lipstick.

This weekend, I went to a picnic on Orchard Beach in the Bronx. I'd never been there and, for some reason, took no photos at all, but it's really nice. Probably not long-train-ride-followed-by-a-bus-ride nice, but definitely go-along-when-someone's-driving nice. Tons of green space and plenty of shade. The part of the beach where they actually let you on is pretty small (as we found out when we were thrown out of the closed section), but it wasn't really hot enough to swim Saturday anyway, at least where we were. I was more interested in hanging out by the sangria and fantastic food, including a three-layer cake with lemon curd and raspberry jam between the layers. (Note to self: make one.)

The people who drove took a little side trip on the way back so we could see City Island, which I've always wanted to visit. And now I have. It's really hard to believe that it's part of New York City; it feels like Cape Cod or Maine.

The linen t-shirt, it progresses

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm going to have to buy a third skein of the Euroflax, which is kind of a drag except that since I've decided that I want my entire summer wardrobe to be made out of this stuff, I'll probably find a way to use the leftovers.

Yin/Yang

I braved heatstroke on Saturday and went to the Renegade Craft Fair, meeting up with Alex and Anna. It was a lot of fun, except for some extremely disappointing ice cream which I didn't realize was vegan until after I had ordered. It wasn't awful, but so dimly flavored that we had a hard time telling my espresso and Anna's sweet potato apart. I didn't even bother finishing mine, which should tell you something. The handmade goods were made of better stuff, I'm happy to say. I had gone in hoping to find a cheap, fun ring and maybe something new for my walls. I saw a lot of prints that I liked, but none that I loved beyond reason, so I didn't get any new artwork. I did, however, get a new ring from The Weekend Store that I just love like crazy:

I seem to be developing a kind of steampunk aesthetic these days. Gears and machine parts and general industrial detritus are really turning my crank, so to speak.

Except for when my crank is turned by soft! fuzzy! pink! lace!, that is. This is the swatch for E's wedding shawl (Kidsilk Haze in Candygirl; the lace pattern is ostrich plumes) and I love it so much I might have to make myself one when I'm done:
I handed off the swatch today and once she makes sure it works with her (also pink) dress, we'll be in business.

What I've been...

...knitting: still working on the linen t-shirt and swatching for a friend's wedding shawl. More about that eventually. It's going to be super awesome. To the max, really.

...reading: I just finished one of the smartest, most entertaining books I've read in ages, Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. Ostensibly a YA vampire novel, it was really about parasites and sex and New York City. Loved it.

...smooshing paint on: Cases for the cds my soon-to-be-former roommate and his band are bringing when they tour Germany this summer. We had a nice little sweatshop going in the apartment last night, all of us painting our way through stacks of cases, joking about what your abstract paint smears say about you. The paint is a base, then they'll be printed and stamped all over. The mock-up looked fantastic; I think part II of case decoration happens next week, so I should be able to get a picture of the finished product.

The guys I actually live with, for the next two weeks anyway, are the ones sitting at the table and in the background. The stander is one of the bandmates.

...orchestrating: finding two new roommates for when these guys move out at the end of the month. I think I'm covered. I just have to introduce the two new guys to each other over beers Sunday night and make sure they get along. I think they'd both be fine taking my word for it, but I like to maintain the illusion that I'm not just running roughshod over everyone's lives here.

...making to use up the slightly overripe cherries I had on hand: this ice cream, with a splash of amaretto for the boozy component. This was not a success as far as I'm concerned, but I think that has more to do with my personal preferences than with the recipe itself. I just don't like ice cream that doesn't have eggs in it. I love ice cream. I love sorbet. I do not love the middle ground. Also, I didn't do a particularly awesome job of blending the cherries, milk and cream together. If I had strained the mixture prior to freezing it, that might have helped the texture. I think a batch of vanilla ice cream with chopped cherries that had been macerated in amaretto and some chocolate would have been infinitely better. Though that's basically Cherry Garcia, isn't it?

...puzzling over: why Gmail is burping up dozens of old emails into my inbox, particularly ones from the summer and fall of 2005. A lot of them are between me and my boyfriend at the time, who I absolutely adored. He was the first and — so far — only guy I've ever said "I love you" to first. I can't say it's particularly painful to see them, especially I've gone on to have loved and lost more than once since him and I'm just deleting the emails without reading them. In fact, there's a certain sweetness to being reminded about that period of time but, also, come ON Gmail, give me a break. Now it just sent me one from his father, thanking me for some Thanksgiving photos I emailed him. ENOUGH ALREADY.

Keep on the sunny side

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Stupid heat wave.

One thing that's keeping my mood up these days, other than smoothies and ice water and the second season of The Wire, is this project. I started Picovoli in Euroflax Linen in grape and really kind of love it. I had to do some rejiggering of the pattern to account for the difference in gauge, but I think it's going to work out fine.

I love the way linen just gets better and better the more it's kicked around. If this turns out as well as I think it's going to, I might just knit myself a little army of them. Louet has a killer colorist on staff and I kind of want a sleek, fitted, timeless t-shirt in every one of their linen shades.

Scenes from an apartment

I've been in full good-thing-my-head-is-attached mode lately and just realized that I had never gotten around to posting these pictures.

Before: the original color of my bedroom with potential paint colors taped to it. The one I went with, Benjamin Moore 1604 silvery moon, eggshell finish, is at the lower left.

And after:

So much better. Instead of sucking all the light out of the room, now the walls reflect it and bounce it around a little. I'm really happy with the color. It changes during the day as the light changes, sometimes looking a bit blue, sometimes a bit lavender, but mostly just a soft, pretty grey. And — bonus! — it matches the robes of the monks who sometimes play baseball in the parking lot across the street.

(You're looking at the outfield there.)

Ginger limeade

I'm going to go ahead and declare this the official drink of summer 2008. It's tart and gingery and just the teensiest bit sweet and even though I drank the entire pitcher over the course of yesterday afternoon with nothing more than an ice cube added, I think it would make an outstanding cocktail base. Whiskey would be my first choice, followed by rum for something resembling a Dark and Stormy.

It came about because I had some fresh ginger left over from dinner Saturday night (this, with parsley instead of cilantro, snow peas instead of bean sprouts and a little honey instead of all that sugar. also, we used whole wheat pasta and only about half of the dressing. it was outstanding.) that I wanted to use immediately instead of letting it moulder in the fridge. So I sliced it all up as thinly as I could and steeped it in a teapot of boiling water. My plan was just to make iced ginger tea, but then I remembered that I had an extra lime so I added that. Then I figured that it could do with a little sweetener so I stirred in a bit of honey. And then I drank it. And it was awesome.

Ginger Limeade

Largish piece of fresh ginger (6"?), unpeeled and thinly sliced
juice of 1 lime
Honey (2T?)

Steep the ginger in a teapot of boiling water until it cools to room temperature. Strain into a pitcher. Add the lime juice, honey to taste and chill.

Widow's weeds

Pattern: Kerry Blue from Traditional Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman
Yarn: Coned fingering-weight shetland
Needles: #6 and #7 for the outer sections (I had an extra-long #7, but not an extra-long #6 and assumed, rightly as it turned out, that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference)
Started: Sometime in the late Cretaceous period
Finished: April 27, 2008
Notes: I did a simple diagonal eyelet for the last pattern instead of whatever the book called for because I kept screwing up the stitch count. Also, instead of crocheted loops to finish, I knit on an edging.
This was my first time using blocking wires and I'm a convert. They made it possible for a half-assed blocker to do an exponentially better job than she would have otherwise. In a fraction of the time. I borrowed this set, but I'll get my own the next time I have a lace project or a garment in pieces to block.

I'm so happy to have this done. Thrilled, really. I love the finished object and I'm delighted to have knocked out a project that had been dragging on for a few years. It never used to bother me to have a lot of half-abandoned projects hanging around, but I'm at a point now where they're kind of a drain on me. I only have a couple to deal with now though.

Before blocking:


During blocking (the darker spots on the right-hand side are ends I didn't weave in until after it was blocked):



The photo at the top is courtesy of Otto Medvetsky.

Demimonde

Liz and Otto and I went out to Green-Wood Cemetery yesterday to run around and take pictures. It seemed like a good time to bring along a couple of completed projects since I'd have captive photographers and gorgeous backgrounds. It was a really fun day, complete with baby raccoons and wild parrots, but it left me feeling a little melancholy. It's been a while since I've done photoshoot production stuff and I realized that I kind of miss it, especially the location scouting and styling parts. I liked planning out all of the shots and figuring out how best to highlight the garment or whatever little schnookie things we were shooting. I liked that the job was active and creative and I got to run all over the place and make all kinds of decisions. Anyway. I hadn't really planned on writing any of that when I started this paragraph. It's just something for me to keep in mind going forward as I figure out the next phase in my career.

I finished Demi (Ravelry link) right before I moved, on April 27, if the scrawls in the Moleskine are to be trusted, and then promptly packed it up and didn't take any pictures of it until yesterday. Apparently, I started it in mid-January. I followed the pattern slavishly, making the smallest size, so there are no deviations to report. I used Peace Fleece in Moldova Burgandy, just a little more than five skeins. I really like it, but I'm not sure how much wear it's going to get. Close-fitting, heavyweight sweaters aren't really practical since my office and apartment are both overheated all winter. Or when it's almost June. You know.


 

I love the way the cables come together at the sides.
The top photo is courtesy of Otto Medvetsky. The unbrushed hair, though, is all me.

Better raccoon pictures

Photos courtesy of Otto Medvetsky