D is for

Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

And this girl has two favorite diamond sources--

This place


and this street


More then 2,500 diamond and jewelry merchants on one city block! So much bling!

In addition, sellers stand on the sidewalk and aggressively try to lure customers in. "Buy gold. Buy diamond."

The glitter and the hard-sell=overwhelming!

But, lucky me, has a friend who loves to shop and she has a "diamond guy," a "gold guy," and a "pearl guy" in the Diamond District. I just have to whisper to her, "Gee, I'm thinking I'd like to look for. . . " and off we go.

Yarn Heaven

I went to Ash Wednesday services yesterday. (Hang in there—I promise this really is fiber-related.)

And something in the gospel leaped out at me. The minister read:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume. . . but store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes. . .”

But my yarn-centric brain heard—“There are NO MOTHS in heaven! “

I’m so taking my yarn stash with me!



Given the size of my stash, the slowness of my knitting and my distractions here on earth, it’s only in the hereafter that I might actually get some knitting done.

And I won’t have to worry about moths! Now that’s truly heaven.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

No, not the weather. My lunch.

I ordered in some Chinese --General Tso's Chicken. It's a spicy dish and I don't like spicy hot. But I don't mind picking out a few chilies. The heat lingers and gives the dish a little zip.

But this many chilies for a lunch-sized portion? Six pieces of chicken. Twelve chilies!



WOOOOO! Who turned on the heat?!

There's been an awful lot of non-knitting chatter on this blog recently. Do I still knit? Why, yes, I do and here's a tease:



I have a dropped stitch, but I'm not panicking. What can this be?!

Being an Adult

When I was a kid, my Mom would buy Freihofer's Crumb Cake. The cake part didn't interest me. It was the little sugary morsels on top that I liked.

I'd sneak one large crumb off the side. Then another one from the other side. Then a little one right on top. My mother, of course, would be suspicious when the crumb cake wasn't so crumby anymore.

So one of the things I like about being an adult is that I can finally eat all the crumbs!















This was a little French Crumb Apple Pie from my favorite bakery in NYC. It was good, but not as good as my apple pie!

Acting like a child is one of the joys of adulthood!

Mid-February Blahs

For me, mid-February is the blahest time of the year. It's cold. Snow is still possible. I'm tired of my winter clothes. The snow on the ground is dirty.



So it's real nice to be able to wrap myself in something new!



The snow is from upstate. The scarf is the Reventuli Shawl being used as a scarf.

C is for. . .

My Mom taught me never to get into a car with a stranger. But, as an adult living in NYC, I do this all the time.

C is for cabs.

Yes, NYC has a wonderful public transportation system, but sometimes a girl just has to hail a cab.

When she has too many shopping bags. If she’s running late. When it’s too cold. Too hot. When her knees hurt. If it's a bad hair day. And especially when she’s crossing a street and a cab just happens to pull up alongside her.



I take cabs. More than I should. And I may be poorer in cash because of this. But so much richer in exotic experiences.



Some crazies have driven me. The guy who talked to himself. The driver who didn’t realize that a red light means stop. The cabbie that delighted in terrorizing pedestrians.

But there was also the cabbie who taught me how to brine meat. And (via cell phone) I once explained a homework assignment to a driver’s ten-year old. There's been drivers who have waited to make sure I safely got into my building.

Our cab drivers come from everywhere but NYC. And I’ve heard their stories about their countries, their families, their dreams.



Yep. I take cabs.

There's approximately 10,000 cabs in NYC. I've probably ridden in them all.

Nip and Tuck

Today this blog is two years old. Doesn't sound all that old. But, like a dog or a cat, blogs age at a different rate. And this old gal needs a few nips and tucks.

Expect some changes. Nothing drastic. It'll be the same Snit n'Knit. Only with some smoothing and tightening.

Many thanks to my readers for these past two years! I've gotten to know so many of you through your comments and your own blogs. It amazes me how, through the vast internet, our worlds have found each other.

You all inspire and awe me. So here's to another mahvelous year or two

PS: Run right over to my birthday twin's blog and wish Margaret a Happy Half Birthday!

Streeeeeetched

Is there no prettier sight than a shawl being tortured blocked?



The last time I pulled and tugged so much was when I put on a pair of Spanx. Both Revontuli and I yelled and screamed and punched back--but look at this point--



Well worth the torture!

BTW, there's a Revontuli Knit-Along that just started in Ravelry. The group is the Kauni Shawl Knit-Along.

Consistency

At the Knitters Review Retreat, a skein of Briar Rose laceweight was one of the many wonderful raffle prizes. Didn't win it. But I helped the winner wind the skein and fell madly in love with the colors. Shades of pink, olive, blue, plum, gold.



I wanted some of that! But I didn't want laceweight.

Chris of Briar Rose was there and she graciously offered to dye that colorway in a different weight. I chose Legend--a weight that's between sport and DK.



It wasn't until I began working on a project, that I realized why I loved the colorway. They're my colors. The colors I surround myself with. The colors I walk on every day!




Um. . . did you notice an inconsistency? You're right. No, that doesn't look like the Lady Eleanor that I started with this yarn.

Story to be continued next time.