Doctor's Orders

Is there anything better than one pint of Jeni's ice cream?

Yep! SIX pints of Jeni's ice cream!

For a few weeks, the hubster and I were a bit under the weather. (We're doing fine now.) And my Dr. SIL prescribed the Jeni's for us. Medicine never tasted so good!

Sunday Tale

There once was a knitter who was full of early Spring. The sun was shining, the daffodils were blooming and she thought a new handknit Spring scarf might be just the thing for those days when there's little chill in the air.

She went digging through her stash and found that she already had a Spring scarf on the needles. However, she was puzzled. What was the pattern? It was scribbled on the back of a work memo from last year. No name. No stitch count. No needle size. And why was she using straight needles? The knitter juggled her knitting memories and there were no straight needles there.



Whatever. A scarf had been started. Why not continue? But the knitter quickly realized the reason why the project had been abandoned. Those awkward, heavy, potential eye-poking-out straight needles.

She switched over to circulars. Same size as the straights. However, the cable were ginormous! The scarf was only 20 stitiches but an afghan of 500 stitches could have fit on the needle.

So she went down to a very small cable. And had a go up a needle size because that's all she had.



But the smaller cable was too small and hurt her wrists. Besides, the stitch pattern began to look like macrame. The knitter's days of tie-dye and VW vans were long, long behind her.



So she frogged the whole thing.



The end.

What a Day!

Even though this winter was mild, today was a much-needed not-quite Spring day.

A perfect day to walk around in the Union Square area and take some photos.

Was it warm enough to eat outside in shirtsleeves? Not really. But this guy thought it was.



Look at that blue, blue sky!!! The Empire State Building looks pretty nice, too!



Yeah, it's true. Everything is bigger in NYC--even our rats!



Ghostly Andy Warhol walking towards Union Square. The Andy Monument.



I picked up some mushrooms at the Union Square Greenmarket.



And on the way home, saw daffodils blooming in Central Park.



I hear we're going to have more of the same weather tomorrow. YAY!

A Notion about Notions

I received the prettiest cosmetic bag as a gift (medium pouch/Mumbai Buff). And since knitters see knitterly implications in everything--I saw this might make a good notions bag.

Over the years I've used different bags and tins and nothing seemed quite right. Too small, too big, too flimsy, too bulky. I've never had one notions bag that I could grab and go and be assured that I was prepared for every knitting scenario.



I've now been using this bag for about six weeks and it's perfect!

My necessary notions: Starting from the bottom center: stitch markers, stitch holders, cheat sheet for M1L and M1R (I never remember!), hand lotion, small scissors (These were my Mom's.), a bag with rubber bands, paper clips and small coil-less pins, cable needles, nail file, pen, stitch counter, tape measure, crochet hook, post-its and Chibi darning needles.



And here's all the stuff inside. Neat and tidy!



Do you carry a notions bag? What works for you and what are your necessary notions?

What We Say

This is terrific! I know I've said and done just about every single one of these things!

The Cowl Extrapolation

Though it's been unseasonably warm here in NYC, I'm expecting that soon it'll go from 60 to 0 in one day. I need to be ready.

I have a ton of scarves--handknit and not. However, thinking of bitter winds and ice pellets smacking my face, I had another scarf in mind. Something more cowl-like than scarf. But not a loose, gaping cowl that would allow the wind and snow to zoom and trickle down my neck.



Another type of cowl. A cowl that fits tight at the neck and that will cover about five or six inches of my chest and back. Some might call it a dickie. But I prefer to call it a Wolowitz Thermal Transfer Device aka Howard's Cowl.



Over the weekend, I knit the stitches over four needles so I could try it on. It's perfect! Snug at the neck--but, not so snug that I feel I have a boa constrictor around my neck.



I tried it on with a coat and the dic. . . uh. . . cowl is almost the right length.



Come on, Winter, show your stuff. I'm ready for ya!

Happy Birthday

to Knitty City! For six years they've been my wonderful LYS.



There were plenty of birthday cakes--some edible



some not as tasty.



But the yarns are always yummy!



I celebrated Knitty City's birthday by buying some yarn. Like there's any other way to celebrate?!